Accidentally In Love
by dustedoffanoldie
Summary: Jim Halpert: Salesman, single dad and accidental romantic lead.
1. Three Thousand Miles From Home

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

You're three thousand miles from the place you once called home.

Jim walked into his closet and pulled out two slightly different coloured Oxford shirts and held them up against him before deciding on the lighter blue. He wasn't sure why he was so concerned about what he was going to wear, it's not like anyone will be paying that much attention to his wardrobe choice anyway.

Staring at himself in the mirror, he straightened his navy tie. God, he thought, I look exhausted. The three-hour time difference was affecting him way more than he thought it would. He smiled to himself as he watched Ellie asleep in bed behind him. He glanced quickly at the clock on his bedside table, and let out a deep breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding. He'd have to wake her in a minute or he'd be late. It was tough to get Ellie up and out of bed sometimes; even though she was little, Jim could already tell she would not grow up to be a morning person.

He sat down on the edge of the bed and slipped on his new leather shoes, adjusting his feet slightly before bending down to tie them up. If he were thinking clearly, he'd probably have gone with his trusty suede's. He had a feeling that breaking in new shoes on his first day of work wasn't going to be a good idea, but he wanted to make a good impression. He sighed heavily, he was clearly over thinking things today.

Why was he so nervous? It wasn't not like he'd never started a new job before. He knew that he was a pretty badass salesman; so selling paper would hopefully be a pretty easy gig for him. Before moving back to Scranton, he'd worked at a web-based company in Brea, Southern California for five years, selling ad space to companies. He'd recently been promoted to regional manager, which looked great on his resume when he applied for the job at Dunder Mifflin.

Despite all that, there was still a lot to lose and the more he thought about it, the more he freaked himself out. If he only had to worry about himself, it would be easier. But he had Ellie to think about too. So, making the decision to move three thousand miles across the country and leave behind a nice house and a decent salary was not something he wanted to regret. The thought of living closer to his parents was the only thing getting him by. He wouldn't worry so much knowing his parents were looking after his little girl when he went back to work.

Seeing the clock strike eight, Jim knew that he had to get moving if he was to make it to work on time. He made his way over to the bed and sat down, stroking her arm softly. "Ellie, time to get up, sweetheart." Her eyes opened sleepily and her face lit up as she focused on Jim. "Hi, baby, I love you." Jim smiled as his fingers formed the 'I love you' sign. This was something the doctors had encouraged Jim to do from early on, so it had now become second nature to him to speak and sign at the same time.

"Sit still," Jim laughed as he tried to slip the hearing aids into Ellie's small ears while she wriggled around excitedly. Once they slid into place, Jim turned her around in his arms. "How's that? Better?" he asked as Ellie lifted her hand and touched her finger to Jim's mouth. It was her way of telling him that she wanted to hear him talk.

Jim reached over and picked up the clothes he'd laid out for Ellie early that morning as he transferred her from her crib into his bed. The new house unsettled her, causing her to wake up around 5am and the only way to settle her was to bring her back in with him.

"Daddy's got to go to work today, but you're going to get to spend the whole day with Grandma," he told her. She tried to climb into his lap, her butt hoisted in the air as she tried to tackle the comforter that was in the way of her Daddy.

Jim lifted Ellie up and laid her back down in front of him. He carefully removed her pyjamas and changed her diaper, before he sat her in his lap and began dressing her. She lifted her arms in the air as Jim pulled the pink t-shirt over her head.

"I'm going to miss you," he told her, his hands making the signs automatically as he talked to her.

Once he finished getting Ellie ready, he carried her downstairs and placed her in her highchair.

"Toast or Cheerios?" he asked, as he knelt down in front of her, grinning as she made two little oh's with her thumb and forefingers.

"Cheerios it is, then."

The doorbell rang just as they had both finished their breakfast. Jim smiled as Ellie laughed at the ding-dong sound the bell made, and it melted his heart every time she did that.

He opened the door and his Mom rushed in, ignoring him and walking over to Ellie. "Hey, Mom. Oh no, I'm fine, I'm not nervous at all," he teased as he followed her into the kitchen.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. It's just so lovely to have Ellie living so close now. How you doing? You okay?"

Jim wiped Ellie's mouth and leaned down to give her a kiss.

"Yeah, I'm okay. A little more nervous than I thought I'd be, but I think that's more to do with leaving Ellie, you know?"

Larissa smiled reassuringly when she saw the anxiety in her son's eyes. "Sweetheart, she'll be with me, it's not like you're leaving her with a stranger."

"I know, but this will be the longest we've ever been apart." He explained as he put his suit jacket on.

"I know, but you have to go back to work sometime, it's the reason you can home after all. I know you're going to hate me for asking, but... Have you spoken to Chloe?"

Jim exhaled deeply and ran his hand through his hair. "Mom, please. Not now."

"I'm just asking..."

"No, but you're not just asking, are you?"

"Jim... I just think it would be good for Ellie to know who her Mom was."

"If you said this to me a few months ago I'd agree with you, but we've not seen her in nine months. I've left messages on her cell phone, with her friends, with her family. I've told everyone who might possibly talk to her that we're moving back,' it's not like I packed our bags and just left. I gave her the chance, Mom, but she didn't take it, and you know what? I'm glad. I don't want Ellie knowing that her Mom didn't want her."

"Jim..."

"No, Mom. Please, I can't do this today." He rubbed his hand tiredly over his face. "I know you only want what you think is best for me, Mom, and for Ellie, but its not her. If she wants to talk to me, she'll call."

Larissa walked over and wrapped her arms tightly around Jim's waist. "Okay."

"Thanks Mom." Jim turned his head and placed a kiss on her temple. "I should really get going." He told her as he broke the hug and made his way over to Ellie and crouched down in front of her. "Be good for Grandma, okay?"

Ellie nodded and placed her open hand on her jaw and then slid her fingers higher onto her cheek. 'Ahhh, you want a kiss huh? I think I can do that." He teased as he stood up and kissed her cheek.

The drive only took about ten minutes, but it felt longer. He drummed his fingers nervously on the steering wheel and changed the radio station numerous times while waiting in traffic - he couldn't remember being this nervous that he just couldn't sit still.

Jim pulled into Scranton's Business Center and parked his car. He sat in silence for a couple of minutes, psyching himself up before making his way inside.

He rode the elevator with an older man who Jim was sure was looking him up and down in a strange way.

"Hi. Jim Halpert. I'm starting at Dunder Mifflin." He said as he extended his hand out and introduced himself.

The older man took his hand and held it tightly. "Creed... If you need anything, you come to me."

"Thanks, I may just do that," Jim replied nervously.

"You know, office supplies... and other stuff," Creed explained as he patted the pocket of his jacket and raised his eyebrows at Jim.

"Er, thanks." The elevator reached their floor and Creed hurried off before Jim could say anything else.

He followed the signs to Dunder Mifflin and walked over to the reception desk.

"Hi, I'm Jim, I'm the new guy."

The receptionist stood up from behind her desk and held out her hand. "Hi. I'm Pam."

TBC

Reviews are as awesome as John Krasinski with a beard and the Away We Go trailer put together =)

Chapter End Notes:  
I was inspired to write this story after my friend found out recently that her little boy is profoundly deaf. He'll need to wear hearing aids full time, and just like Jim, they've been encouraged to sign at the same time as talking to him. 


	2. You Complete Me

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

*******

You Complete Me

Jim's stomach rumbled loudly as he glanced at the clock at the bottom of his screen. No wonder he was so hungry. Ellie had decided her cereal would look better on her head than in her bowl, so he'd not had time to eat breakfast that morning. He quickly glanced over at Pam before making his way over to reception, picking up a handful of jellybeans, and tossing them into his mouth all at once. He'd only been working there a couple of days, but he already felt as thought he'd made a friend in Pam.

"Hey, so do you have any plans for lunch?" he asked, making a face at the taste of his jellybean concoction.

Pam laughed at the repulsed look on his face. "Not enjoying the little creation that you made there?"

"No!!" He replied, as he swallowed almost immediately, sticking his tongue out in disgust.

"What did you make?"

"Tiramisu," he explained, pointing to the little jellybeans recipe card that she had placed next to the bowl.

"Tiramisu?"

"Yeah 2 cappuccinos, 1 cream soda and 1 chocolate pudding."

Pam began gathering papers from her desk and stapling them together, before arranging them neatly in the outbox tray in front of her. "Do you even like Tiramisu?" she asked.

"Not particularly," he laughed as he leaned over her desk to see what she was doing. "So, you free for lunch? I don't want to get in the way of your...solitaire or anything."

"Oh, ha ha! Don't poke fun at the solitaire, Jim," she teased. "But yeah urm, I am free for lunch, did you want..."

"Yeah, you wanna go grab something to eat? I don't think my sandwich is gonna cut it." His stomach chose that moment to growl loudly, causing them both to laugh. "Cugino's or Coopers?"

"Ohh Cugino's! And maybe if we're not full, we could run by Friendly's afterwards and grab a Conehead?" she asked, her face lighting up at the thought of it.

Jim pulled himself up from his leaning position on her desk and winked. "You're on, Beesly."

XxXxXxX

They arrived just as they opened for lunch, opting for a booth at the back of the restaurant. The waitress took their drink orders and handed them both their menus.

Jim laughed nervously and cleared his throat when he noticed Pam staring at him. "What?"

"Nothing...so, tell me stuff."

"What sort of stuff?" he laughed as he played with the menu in front of him.

"I don't know... important stuff, like... why did you move from California to Scranton? Are you married? What's your favourite sandwich filling? That kinda stuff."

"Wow, okay... urm. Favorite sandwich filling would have to be ham and cheese, and I moved back to Scranton because I was fed up of great weather ALL the time," he teased, a crooked smile overtaking his face.

"Yeah, I can see why that would bother you," she smiled. "Seriously though..."

"I guess I just wanted a change. I grew up here, my family still lives here... and I really wanted to sell paper."

"I can understand why you would. It's definitely a high flying lifestyle that people will resent you for, just wait and see," she laughed nervously, taking a deep breath, thankful for the interruption by the waitress. They ordered their meals and looked at each other across the table, both waiting for the other to speak first.

Pam smirked. "Ignoring my questions already, hmm? So, you're not married?" She asked, tearing a bread roll in half, offering him a piece.

He shook his head and accepted the bread she was offering, dipping it generously in the oil in front of him. "Nope, you?"

"No."

"Cool." Jim responded, silently cursing himself for sounding so lame.

"How about dating? Are you seeing anyone?" she asked as she hastily spread butter on to the bread in front of her.

"No. Are you?"

"No," she replied, pausing briefly. "Wait, so you're not married? Or dating anyone? Really?"

Jim laughed at the shocked expression on Pam's face. "Yes, really. Why, does that shock you?"

"Yeah, it's just... you're pretty cute, that's all. It's unusual for guys like you to still be single."

Jim blushed at Pam's boldness. "I suppose I'm just waiting to bump into that special someone in a Starbucks line or something." He teased, trying to lighten the moment.

Pam laughed as she watched him anxiously playing with the wine glass in front of him.

"So, what about you? Why aren't you married yet?" he asked her as he folded his hands on the table in front of him to try and control his fidgeting.

"I guess I've just not found the right person to settle down with," she explained honestly as she took another bread stick from the basket.

Jim looked up and stared at her for a moment before looking away. "I think you'll be alright. Someday you'll find that guy who will pull a Jerry Maguire on you and say you had him at hello."

"Jerry Maguire? Really, Jim?"

"Hey, it's a good movie. Don't mock its brilliance..."

"Oh I wouldn't dream of it," she teased as she brought her hand up to rest on her heart. "You complete me."

They both laughed and their eyes met across the table, where they held their gaze until the waitress came over with their food. She cleared her throat to get their attention, and somehow broke the spell that had formed between them.

XxXxX

Jim yawned as he dumped his messenger bag into the passenger seat of his Honda Accord. To say he was looking forward to the weekend was an understatement. His first full week at Dunder Mifflin had completely and utterly drained him and he couldn't wait to just get home, change out of his damn suit and relax with his little girl. He was just about to put the key in the ignition, when he noticed Pam and Toby approaching his car. Out of everyone in the office, he was closest to those two; especially Pam. From the moment he walked in he knew they'd become friends, she seemed to share the same dorky sense of humour he did. He smiled to himself as he remembered Pam's comment when she walked him over to his new desk. She grabbed his elbow lightly and whispered, "Enjoy this moment, Jim, because you're never going to go back to this time before you met your desk mate Dwight.""Enjoy this moment, Jim, because you're never going to go back to this time before you met your desk mate Dwight..." He thought she was exaggerating, but no. It turns out that Dwight Schrute was in fact the strangest person he'd ever met - followed very closely by Creed.

Jim rolled his window down. "Hi."

"Hey, you wanna grab a beer? A couple of us are heading over to Poor Richard's for a bit." Toby asked as he nodded his head towards Meredith, Kelly, Bob and Phyllis, and some of the guys from the warehouse who were all waiting over on the other side of the parking lot for them.

Jim looked up and saw Pam smiling at him, and his fingers curled tightly around the steering wheel. "As much as I'd love to, guys, I can't tonight."

"Oh, okay." Pam replied as she played with her necklace nervously. He could have sworn she sounded disappointed by his answer.

Toby leaned his hand in and slapped Jim's shoulder awkwardly, "Yeah, it's Friday night, you've probably got a date planned or something, huh?"

"Yeah, urm...something like that." Jim looked at his watch. He knew his Mom had to be somewhere by six. "Hey, guys, sorry. I really have to go."

He looked at Pam. She looked disappointed; Toby just smiled and nodded his head.

"See you on Monday."

"Bye, Jim." Pam said quietly as she waved him off.  
XxXxX

Jim was looking forward to spending the entire weekend with Ellie. The guilt he felt when he left her each morning with his Mom was starting to overwhelm him. He knew he had to remember that Ellie didn't hate him for it, and that it was probably good for her to spend some time away from him, but it didn't make it any easier.

As soon as he got home he could hear his Mom talking to Ellie, announcing that he was home, and he could already hear how excited she was. Slipping off his shoes, he stepped into the living room and immediately got down on all fours and crawled towards Ellie, who was sitting on the floor in between her Grandma's legs, her little feet bouncing up and down excitedly.

"Hey, Munchkin. Daddy's home."

Ellie clapped her hands excitedly before placing a thumb of one hand, with her fingers open, up to her forehead and tapping several times, a lot harder than was necessary.

As Jim reached Ellie, he got up on to his knees and scooped her up into his arms. "Hey, careful, Sweetheart. You're going to hurt yourself," he explained as he took her hand and showed her how to tap her forehead gently. "Daddy Daddy Daddy," he repeated, enjoying watching her copy the sign back to him on her own.

"Thanks for looking after her, Mom, was she okay?"

"She was as good as gold as usual." Larissa smiled as she leaned down and kissed Ellie, before placing a kiss on Jim's cheek. "So, I have a few minutes before I have to leave. Talk to me."

Jim smiled. That was twice someone had said that to him today. He looked at his mom suspiciously and laughed, "About what?"

"I don't know, work, maybe? You haven't really talked about it. Are the people nice?"

"Yeah. I get along well with a couple of people. The others...well... they're...you know, there are no words to describe them."

"That bad?"

"Well, today was Diversity Day..." Jim explained, as he sat Ellie on his lap and began doing the actions to "Round and Round the Garden," on her upturned palm.

"That doesn't sound so bad." She said, laughing at the look on his face.

"No, it doesn't - but it was. Michael made everyone wear these cards on their head, with a different race written on it... and then made everyone try and guess what their card said by talking to people."

"Oh, that sounds..."

"Insane?"

"I was going for different, but yes, it sounds a little... immoral to say the least. What did yours say?"

Jim laughed as he remembered the moment when he learned exactly what his card said.

_"Urm, urm. Okay I've got it. This is so easy! You'll get it right away," Pam laughed as she looked up at Jim with the card stuck to his forehead. "It's really cold where you're from, eh?"_

_Jim bit his bottom lip, to stop himself from laughing, but still managed to look confused. "Russian?"_

_"Jiiim, no. Okay... I have it; you'll get it this time for sure. So..." She paused mid sentence and shook her head, "Some people think you all live in igloos and urm... you really love maple syrup..."_

_"Hmm. Could I be Canadian, ehhh?"_

_"YES."_

_"Good job with those hints, by the way," he teased, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. "Wanna get oat of here, ehhh?"_

_"Are you going to be doing that incredibly realistic accent all day?" she asked him as she made her way out of the conference room._

_He kept the joke going a little longer, loving the reaction he was getting from Pam. It'd been a long time since he'd had this much fun, especially with someone of the opposite sex. "Sooaarrryyyy Pam! Does this bug you? Where should we go? What abooot the break room, eh? Or maybe the kitchen?"_

_"You're ridiculous."_

"Pam sounds nice, is she pretty?"

"Mom!" Jim replied defensively.

"What? I was just wondering."

Jim grabbed the knot of his tie, loosened it quickly and popped open the top button of his shirt. "Yeah... I guess she is."

"Do you like her?"

Jim stood up and Ellie looked at him as she brought a cupped hand up to her mouth, showing him she wanted some food. "You want something to eat, Sweetheart?" he asked, mimicking her action. He made his way into the kitchen and poured some Cheerios in to a bowl and gave a couple to Ellie.

"So, do you?"

"What?" he asked, watching Ellie try and shove as many Cheerios in to her mouth as she could.

"Like that girl Pam?"

"Mom. Don't. Even if I did like her, it's not like I can do anything about it. I have Ellie to think about now. Plus, I don't think she'd be too thrilled to be starting something up with someone who has a kid."

Larissa smiled knowingly, folding her arms and leaning against the kitchen counter. "Oh, so you know that for sure do you? When you told her about Ellie, she immediately tensed up and started avoiding you?" she teased.

He knew what his Mom was doing. God, why did he suddenly feel as though he was back in tenth grade?

"I haven't told them about Ellie."

"What? Jim, are you crazy? You have to tell them! Isn't she on your insurance?" Larissa asked him as she stood up quickly, folding her arms in front of her as she waited for an answer.

Jim looked at his Mom before turning his attention back to Ellie. "Of course she's on my health insurance. People at corporate know, just... no one here."

Her tone softened as she waited for him to explain. "I don't understand."

"It's just... I don't want people thinking I'm using Ellie as an excuse... you know? Or that I want special treatment. I need for them to trust me and to know I'll pull my weight around there before I tell them. " He pulled out a stall at the breakfast table and sat down, placing Ellie on the bar in front of him.

"Jim, not everyone's like your old colleagues. You were unfortunate and worked with some narrow-minded jerks, but you can't think like that."

"I know, but..."

"No buts, Sweetie. Think about it okay? If not for yourself, then do it for Ellie. Don't you want to put her picture on your desk?" she asked, smiling at the change of expression on Jim's face.

"Yeah, of course I do," he replied, thinking about the many pictures he had taken of his little girl that would be perfect for a frame on his desk.

XxXxXxX

After his Mom left, he grabbed some dinner before carrying Ellie upstairs. He carefully removed her hearing aids and bathed her quickly before getting her ready for bed. He brought her back downstairs with him, where they snuggled together on the sofa with a warm bottle of milk. He loved moments like that, when she was so sleepy and heavy in his arms, but her eyes still snapped open to make sure he was still there.

He couldn't imagine what it was like for Ellie, to be living in a world of silence, and that scared him. He was her Daddy. He should have been able to make everything okay; he should have been able to fix everything and he couldn't. That killed him. He wanted to make sure that she knew he was there, that she was safe, and that she was his world. He rested his head back and thought about what his Mom had said.

Maybe it would be good for him to start dating again... maybe he'd ask Pam out one night next week. As soon as that idea popped into his head, he felt guilty. What was he thinking? He didn't have time to date anyone. As much as he knew he would love to, he just couldn't. How could he commit himself to a romantic relationship when he was 100% committed to being a father?

He could feel Ellie getting heavier and he peeked down to see that she was struggling to finish her milk. He removed her bottle and carried her upstairs and tucked her in.

Once he was satisfied that Ellie was settled, he made his way to his bedroom and threw himself down on to his bed face first. Why was he still thinking about what his mom had said? He'd not thought about dating at all until tonight. Well, not consciously, anyway. He closed his eyes and all he could see was Pam standing in the conference room, with the card stuck to her head, trying to get him to work out he was Canadian. He got it right away, it was easy, but he loved watching her put so much energy in to it. He loved how he made her laugh when he produced this insanely bad accent. He was slightly embarrassed, but kept it going just because he loved to hear her laugh. She was so pretty when she laughed. She did this thing where she threw her head back and...

Oh God, he thought, I'm screwed.

TBC

Reviews are almost as awesome as Away We Go - which really was AWESOME!!!


	3. The Telling Of The Tale

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

*******

It was Sunday evening and Jim was about to give Ellie her bath. So folding a towel under his knees as he leaned over the tub and tested the temperature of the running water. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Ellie crawling across the floor away from him at lightning speed.

"Come back, you little monkey," Jim laughed as he reached out and scooped Ellie into his arms and placed her onto his lap. "You, little lady, need a bath," he told her, balling his fists together and rubbing them in a circular motion on her chest, as if he was washing her. Ellie leaned her head back and looked up at him as she removed the fingers from her mouth and attempted to pull off one of her socks with her wet fingers. Jim smiled.

"You want to help Daddy take off your socks off, huh?" he asked, pulling the item of clothing off and freeing her wiggling toes. "This little piggy went to market. This little piggy stayed at home. This little piggy had roast beef. This little piggy had none. And this little piggy cried 'Wee! Wee! Wee!' all the way," he sang as he tickled the soles of her feet, making her giggle.

Holding out his index fingers so Ellie could grab hold of him, he helped her lift up her arms while he removed her t-shirt. "Good girl," he cooed, loving the laugh that spilled out of her mouth every time they performed this ritual together. He didn't know what she thought was so funny, but he didn't really care, because the sound of her laughter was like music to his ears.

Finishing undressing her, he removed her aids before lifting her into the warm bubbly water, and watched as she kicked her legs around excitedly, causing a mini tidal wave to materialise and spray him with water. Jim laughed as he pulled his blue Phillies shirt over his head and threw it into the laundry basket behind him. "Yay, daddy made a basket," he told her, smiling to himself when he realised that she couldn't hear anything he was saying. Even if she could, she'd have no idea what he was talking about.

Ellie loved bath time, and he watched affectionately as she shoved handfuls of bubbles into her mouth. Jim wiggled his fingers while raising his hands up and down, making the sign for bubbles. "You like those bubbles, don't ya?" he teased as she held out her hand and offered him some of his own. He brought his mouth closer to her hand and smacked his lips together. "Mmm, yum," he laughed, pretending to eat the bubbles Ellie served him.

"I think we need to wash your hair, what do you think?" he asked, pouring some fresh water into a cup and gently emptying it over Ellie's head.

After he washed her hair, he let her play with her favourite bath toy, Diver Dan. This was also his favourite toy when he was little, and his mom had kept it and given it to him when they'd moved back to Scranton. It was a little yellow diving board and slide that stuck to the side of the bath. It came with a tiny red lifeboat and blonde haired figure called Dan, who would dive off and into the bath when you pushed the button. This could keep Ellie entertained for hours; she loved watching the small toy land in the bath beside her, and would clap enthusiastically as it splashed water in her face. She'd raise her hands and point her fingertips together - the sign for more, and her way of asking him to do it again. At eleven months, Ellie had picked up a lot of the signs that he had been using, and he was finding it easier and easier to communicate with her every day. It was definitely something to be proud of. His brother Tom had told him that he was unable to understand what his own daughter, Vanessa, wanted until she was at least eighteen months old. But seeing Ellie communicate with him using even the most basic signs made Jim's heart swell with pride.

Once the water had started to cool down, Jim lifted the puny little bundle out of the bath, and wrapped her up tightly in her favourite hooded monkey towel, a gift from her Uncle Pete when she was born. Every time he wrapped her up in it he laughed to himself as he remembered opening the gift. Pete had written inside the card, "This will definitely bring out the little monkey in her - oh wait, she's yours, she probably won't need it." As much as he hated to admit it, Jim knew that Pete was right. She was his, and she was definitely his little monkey.

He carried Ellie into her bedroom, her sleepy head bobbing softly on his shoulder, before gently lying her down and changing her into her pink footsie pyjamas. Somewhere between putting on her clean diaper and fastening up her all in one, she seemed to wake up a little. So, he decided to pop in her hearing aids and read her a bedtime story. He carried her over to the bookshelf and found Frog and Toad Are Friends, one of his childhood favourites. He sat down in the rocking chair in the corner of her room, and snuggled Ellie close to his chest, throwing her blankie on top as he began to read. "Frog ran up the path to Toad's house. He knocked on the front door. There was no answer. 'Toad, Toad,' shouted Frog, 'wake up. It is spring!' 'Blah,' said a voice from inside the house..."

As he continued to read, he noticed that Ellie wasn't paying attention to what he was saying and was busy looking around the room as if he was not speaking to her. She loved the sound of his voice, and normally, whenever he spoke to her, she would watch him closely. The look in her eyes told Jim that she was listening, even though she wasn't quite old enough to understand what it was he was saying. So he knew right away that something was definitely wrong. He sat her up and adjusted the aid in her right ear, jumping when he heard it making a high pitched squeaking noise. "Ah, shit," he muttered as he removed both of the aids from her ears. "Looks like we'll be seeing the ear doctor tomorrow, little lady."

Adjusting Ellie on to his shoulder, he stood up and walked around her dimly lit room as he began to sing her to sleep, rubbing gentle circles on to her back. He knew she couldn't hear him, but he also knew that she was slowly but surely falling asleep - she could feel him singing to her and that soothed her each time.

"You are my sunshine. My only sunshine. You make me happy, when skies are grey. You'll never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away..."

XxXxX

The next morning Jim stood in the kitchen, carrying a sobbing Ellie in his arms, with the phone cradled uncomfortably between his ear and shoulder. "Hi. This is Jim Halpert and I'm leaving a message for Doctor Carter. My daughter, Ellie is a patient with you, and I need to book her in for an appointment with you ASAP. Her aids... they're making this kind of high-pitched noise and... and yes, I've changed and re-changed the batteries and they still make the sound... so, they're definitely not working. So, if you could give me a call on my work number and let me know when you could fit her in, that would be great, it's 555 4658... thanks."

He hung up the phone and ran his hand slowly down Ellie's back trying to calm her down. He walked over to the table and took a seat, adjusting Ellie in his arms. He held out his hand palm up in front of them and placed his other hand on top as if placing a cup on a table. "You want some water, Sweetheart?" he asked, offering her a sippy cup full of cold water. As he leaned across her, she began gnawing hungrily on his arm, covering it in baby-drool. Jim looked down at his baby girl and that all too familiar feeling of guilt began building in his stomach. That feeling of despair and helplessness that he got when he knew his little girl was in pain and he couldn't make it go away. "So, that's a no to the water, but yes to Daddy's arm, huh? But does that feel good?" he asked, watching her calm down a little. The pressure from chewing was obviously helping ease the pain.

Jim heard the front door open and smiled as his mom let herself in and entered the kitchen.

Larissa walked over and placed a kiss on his cheek and ruffled Ellie's hair. "Morning."

"Urgh," he replied groggily. "I feel as though I've not even been to sleep. She was up most of the night."

"Aw, Sweetheart, you poor thing. Although I wouldn't be surprised if this was God's way of paying you back for being such a poor sleeper when you were her age. Your dad and I didn't get a proper night's sleep until you were at least three," she teased, running her hand over Ellie's red-hot cheeks.

"I hate leaving her like this."

"Oh, Jim," she laughed sympathetically, seeing the look of sadness on her son's face. "She'll be okay. She's just teething," she reassured him, as she watched Ellie happily sucking on Jim's wrist. "Teething's no fun, is it, kiddo?" she cooed as she ran a cool finger down Ellie's burning cheek. Larissa used the table to keep her balance as she bent down in front of Ellie. "Jim, why doesn't she have her aids in?" she lectured him as she pushed herself up off of the floor. "Remember what you told me? You need to put them in as soon as she wakes up."

"I do know that, Mom, but thank you for reminding me." He teased, but stopped quickly when he noticed the familiar maternal look of impatience. It didn't take him long to explain what was going on and that he'd hopefully be home at some point today to take her in for her appointment. Once he was finally able to pry his drooling monkey off of his arm, he left, hoping to get to work a little early so he could make up for time he'd miss taking said drooling monkey to the hospital.

XxXxX

It was a little after 8:30 by the time Jim pulled into the business park's parking lot. Despite the somewhat crappy morning he'd had, he was in a good mood by the time he arrived at work. He loved Mondays. For the last nine months, it had pretty much just been him and Ellie. As much as he cherished those moments alone with her, he longed for some decent adult company. He couldn't be bothered to wait for the elevator to arrive, so he hastily climbed the stairs two at a time, excited to tell Pam all about the weekend adventures of his crazy next door neighbour.

He walked through the office door, grinning at Pam when she looked up from organising the mail into different piles on the reception desk in front of her. She welcomed him with a tight-lipped smile and quickly went back to what she was doing. "Hey."

Pam vigorously shuffled one of the piles before setting it back down. "Hi," she replied quietly, looking at him briefly before returning her eyes to the task at hand.

"Did you have a nice weekend?"

"Yes, thanks. You have a message," she told him as she pushed a pink postit note towards him.

"Oh, thanks. Hey, you okay?" he asked, reaching for a handful of skittles that were sitting in the bowl on her desk. It was way too early in the morning to be eating candy, but he wanted to spend as much time as possible at reception. If that meant eating pure sugar for breakfast, then so be it.

She looked up and nodded her head before continuing on with the mail. "Yeah."

Throwing a couple more skittles into his mouth as he focussed on the message, unable to help the slight pump of his fist as he read what it said. "Oh, awesome. Hey, mind if I...?" he began to ask, pointing to the phone next to her, but stopping when he noticed the look of annoyance on Pam's face. "I'll just call them back from my desk..."

"You probably should," she told him, as she picked up the phone to pass on a message to Kelly.

Jim walked over to his desk, giving Pam a quick glance before picking up the phone. He was still looking at her when the person on the other end answered. He jumped slightly. He was concentrating so hard on what could possibly be wrong with Pam that he wasn't paying any attention to the telephone call. "Oh, urm, hi. This is Jim Halpert," he began, lowering his voice. "You left me a message, about an appointment for Ellie Halpert... okay no problem, thank you. We'll see you there."

He replaced the handset and without even looking up he could feel Pam's eyes burning a hole into the back of his head. He looked up and tried to make eye contact with her, but she'd adjusted her monitor slightly so that she couldn't see him. He sighed, wondering what was bothering her before picking up the phone. He called Toby first, letting him know that he had to leave the office for an hour or so at 10:00am, and that he'd make the time up later in the week. He then dialed his mom, hoping that he could try and get a couple of sales in before he had to leave. "Hi, it's me. Yeah, I managed to get an appointment this morning so I'll be home at about 10:15. Of course... love you too. Bye."

Jim never seen Pam upset before and he didn't like it. He wondered if anyone else had noticed that something was bothering her. He wasn't sure how you could miss it, her whole demeanour had changed. He'd only known her a short time but from the way she sounded on the phone with Kelly to how she hit the keys of her keyboard a little harder than normal, he could tell she was not happy about something. He wasn't sure what could have happened to put her in such a bad mood, but whatever it was, he wanted to fix it for her. After having such a bad night with Ellie, he'd been really looking forward to seeing her that day. They shared the same sense of humor and they never failed to make each other laugh... well, usually anyway. He'd thought about her A LOT over the weekend, probably more than he'd care to admit, but that wasn't the same as seeing her. He loved nothing more than getting to work and listening to Pam answer the phone all day. There was something about the way her tone of voice changed depending on who she was talking to. When she answered the phone she sounded uninterested and melancholy. When talking to Michael, she took on this slightly patronising tone as if she was talking to a child. But when she spoke to him, she sounded... different, happier somehow, and that was definitely something he looked forward to. And now, she was in a bad mood, and he had no idea why. He hadn't done anything differently. He tried to tease her to make her laugh. What had he done to upset her? God, why am I even thinking about this? He laughed quietly to himself. Of course it wouldn't be anything to do with him. Everything was fine when they left work on Friday. In fact, Friday had been pretty awesome. Pam had even helped him glue Dwight's mouse to his mouse pad. At lunch, he and Pam had plotted more pranks together, deciding that it would be Jim's mission to make Dwight's work life as miserable as possible.

Unable to stand it any longer, he stood up and made his way over to Pam's desk, dangling his hands over the side so that his fingers were almost in front of her face. "So, I was thinking," he started, clearing his throat. "Do you want to grab some lunch this afternoon or something?"

Pam looked up from her game of Free Cell and shook her head slightly. "I really don't think that's a good idea. Do you?"

"Uh, I do, actually," he smirked. "I'll be pretty hungry by the time I get back."

"That's not what I meant, Jim," she replied, as she leaned back stiffly in her chair and sighed loudly. Jim was silent for a moment, crunching a piece of candy in between his teeth before he answered her. "Then I don't understand."

They were interrupted by Toby, who gave him a friendly clap on the shoulder as he walked past. "I hope everything's okay with Ellie. Just give me a call if you'll need longer than an hour," he smiled before disappearing into Michael's office.

Jim turned to Pam, and immediately noticed the sudden shift in her posture. The way her whole body had tensed up and the way her mouth formed a hard line broke his heart. He wasn't sure what he'd done, or hadn't done, but he had to try to find out. How else could he fix it?

"Pam..."

Her voice cracked slightly as she looked up at him. "Just go back to your desk, Jim."

"Pam."

She scooted her chair back and walked towards the fax machine. "I have things to do," she told him quietly.

"They can wait. Can I talk to you outside for a minute?" he asked, smiling gently when she nodded her head. She hastily made her way out into the hall and through the door leading to the stairwell.

Pam remained silent as she rested her back against the wall, folding her arms protectively in front of her as she waited for him to speak.

"I don't understand why you're so mad at me."

Pam let out a frustrated sigh and looked down at the floor. "I'm not... I'm not mad at you."

"Well clearly something's upset you."

"Can we please not do this now? I'm really tired," she asked weakly, almost pleading with him to stop talking.

"Come on, Pam. Don't do this," he begged, moving his head a little to try and get her to look at him. Shoving his hands deep in to his pockets, he asked, "Is it something I've done?"

"I should get back..."

"Something I haven't done?"

"Jim..."

"Pam?"

She bit her lip nervously. "It's just... we're friends, right?"

He looked at her, confused by what she'd just asked him. He wondered whether she was consciously avoiding the question he'd just asked. "Yes, we're friends," he assured her. He looked at his watch, seeing that he had a little over forty minutes before he had to leave.

"Oh, I'm sorry, am I boring you?" she asked sarcastically.

"What the...? Where is this even coming from? I really, really don't need this right now Pam," he groaned, running his hand tiredly through his hair. "Of course we're friends."

"Well I thought so too, Jim. But obviously I was wrong," she spat.

He furrowed his eyebrows, genuinely puzzled by what she was saying. "Okay, woah. What?"

"Are you serious?" she asked, throwing her hands up in frustration.

"I just really want to know what I've done to upset you so much since Friday that's made you question our friendship..."

She looked away from him and reached up, subconsciously playing with her necklace.

"You gotta help me out here, Pam," his tone becoming more desperate this time.

"You told me you weren't married, Jim... Oh my, God, I flirted with a married man. I feel like such an idiot!" she exclaimed as she threw her head back against the wall, the soft thud echoing throughout the hallway.

Jim leaned towards her a little and rested his right hand on the wall behind her head. He smiled softly as the wheels began turning in his head. Everything becoming suddenly clear.

"I'm not married," he told her as he brought his left hand up towards his chest, to make his point. "See?"

"Really?" Pam asked, her tone eloquent of her disbelief. "Then who's Ellie?"

He removed his hand from the wall and cracked his knuckles before looking over at Pam. "This isn't how I wanted to tell you," he explained as he took a deep breath. "Ellie is my daughter."

"Oh," Pam muttered, more to herself than anything else. A look of sheer embarrassment washed over her face as she'd realised what she'd assumed. "Jim, I'm so... I didn't know. I'm sorry."

Jim moved to stand next to Pam and leaned next to her. "Hey, it's fine, honestly. Don't worry about it," he reassured her.

"No actually, it's not fine." Pam pushed herself off of the wall slightly. "I just... I still don't get why you didn't... This is big, Jim, like really big, and I can't believe I thought that you were..."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about her," he apologised, cutting her off. "It's just... We've had a rough couple of months and I just...I didn't want people acting weird around me, or feeling sorry for me, you know?"

"No, not really," Pam replied, unable to hide the hurt in her voice. "How old is Ellie?" she asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

Jim smiled. His entire face lit up as he began talking about his daughter. "Eleven months."

Pam looked down and shuffled her feet against the floor; Jim could feel his frustration building. The way Pam was upset with him one moment, and then withdrawn the next, was confusing to say the least. The tension between them was at an all time high, and he had no real idea how, but he knew he had to change it. So he did what comes naturally to new parents... he bragged.

"Do you wanna...? I mean... I have a picture..." he began, his hand already pulling the wallet out of his back pocket.

She nodded her head and held out her hand.

"This was taken a couple of weeks ago," he told her, pointing at the photograph in Pam's hand. It showed a smiling Jim sitting on the floor, with a little brown haired cherub on his lap. Ellie had a mushy, half eaten chocolate cookie gripped tightly in her hands as she shovelled the cookie into her mouth. Chocolate covered most of the lower half of her face and was even coating her nose. "She's a bit of a cookie monster," he said with a laugh more to keep the conversation flowing than anything else.

Pam looked closely at the little girl in the photograph in front of her. "She's really cute," she admitted, the honesty in her voice taking him by surprise.

He took the photo from Pam and looked at it quickly before placing it back in his wallet. "Thanks, I think so."

Neither of them said anything and the silence between them grew more and more uneasy, causing them both to fidget uncomfortably in each other's company. "I wouldn't have treated you any differently."

"Yeah, you would have."

She looked up making eye contact with him for the first since they'd been out in the hall. "It's great to know you have so much faith in our friendship," she spat bitterly.

The rollercoaster of emotions Pam was expressing frightened him. He couldn't work out if she was more hurt or angry with him. Jim didn't blame Pam for behaving like this; he understood why she was so upset with him. Hell, if the roles were reversed, he'd probably be acting the just the same. He just hoped that she would let him explain.

"Pam, you know that's not what I meant. I'm not saying you'd have treated me badly, but... when people find out - it's like, they start acting weird around me and it suddenly become all they can see... it's just really complicated. I promise I'll explain everything to you at lunch, okay? I could explain now, but I have to leave soon and I don't want to rush this. I want you to understand. So you have to promise me you'll let me take you out to lunch as soon as I get back, okay?"

Pam sniffed loudly and used the sleeve of her cardigan to gently rub the end of her nose before answering him quietly. "Okay."

XxXxX

He left work right on time and made it to the hospital in time for Ellie's appointment with Dr. Carter.

"So, what seems to be the problem?" The doctor asked, as he leaned forward and tickled Ellie's feet.

Jim explained the situation as clearly as he could to Dr. Carter. This was the first time the aids had gone wrong, and Jim didn't want Ellie to have to be without them if he could help it. When she'd first got her aids a couple of months ago, the physician emphasised how important it was that Ellie wore them the entire time she was awake, so that she could develop as normally as possible and learn to use the aids to her advantage.

The doctor smiled at the obvious worry on Jim's face. "No need for concern, this is perfectly normal," he reassured him. "All we need to do is retune them and they'll be as good as new."

"And that's it?"

"That's it."

Dr Cooper slipped Ellie's aids back into her ears and placed a small sensor on to her forehead. He then pointed to the computer screen sitting on his desk. "This will help us distinguish the sounds that Ellie can and can't hear, as well as when we've hit the correct frequency," he explained, as he pushed a couple of buttons on the computer in front of him.

The whole process of re-tuning the aids took about twenty minutes. This was the first time Jim had seen them do it, and for someone with perfect hearing like himself, it was still difficult to comprehend that there were sounds that he took for granted that Ellie just couldn't hear. Jim was fascinated at the way Ellie would move around when they changed the frequency and she'd suddenly hear something. He had to stay as silent as possible during the test, and Ellie was uncharacteristically quiet, which surprised him. Once everything was done, the doctor nodded his head, letting Jim know it was okay to talk again.

"Hi, Monkey. Daddy is so proud of you, you were such a good girl today." Jim cooed, as he turned Ellie around so she was facing him and planted a kiss on her cheek. "I love you."

At the sound of his voice, Ellie squealed in his arms and kicked her legs, shoving her fist in her mouth.

"Is that better?" he asked, pulling her hand free, and accepting the tissue the doctor offered. "Can you say thank you?"

Ellie looked up at him and brought her right hand up to her mouth, palm facing inwards, and pushed it away from her face. "Not to me, silly, to Dr. Carter," he laughed, turning Ellie around to face the doctor and helping her make the sign for thank you.

XxXxXxX

By the time he'd dropped Ellie back of at home and pulled into the parking lot at work, it was almost 12:00. He hoped that Pam had had enough time to process what she already knew so that he could explain himself fully at lunch.

"Hey. You ready to go?" he asked, walking through the door to their office and making his way over to reception.

Pam looked up and smiled weakly at him. "Now? Oh, yeah sure. Hold on, just let me switch the phones over." Jim was slightly surprised that she agreed to leave so easily. He knew she promised she'd go, but he was expecting her to have changed her mind, or to have made up an excuse.

Grabbing her coat from the rack she quietly followed him downstairs to his car. "It's warm out, so I didn't know if you wanted to maybe grab a sandwich and eat somewhere?"

"That sounds fine," she told him as she opened the passenger door and climbed in.

They rode to the bagel place in silence; all that could be heard was their breathing and Jim's rhythmic tapping on the steering wheel. Silence always made him feel nervous and jumpy. He knew he should say something, but every time he opened his mouth he just couldn't make the words form the way he wanted to, so he figured it was probably best to let the silence ride for now. Maybe food would help.

Once they'd purchased their lunch, they walked across the road to the park and found somewhere quiet they could sit and talk. Jim removed his coat and placed it on the floor next to him. "You can sit on this if you want."

"Thanks," she replied as she sat down.

Once again the awkward silence overtook them. She watched as he ripped open his packet of chips and then carefully peeled away the excess cheese and ham from his bagel, before stuffing it inside.

"Ellie's really cute." Pam admitted quietly, as she popped the straw into her drink.

"Thanks," he smiled, both at the compliment and in relief that she'd finally brought up the subject.

"She looks like you."

Jim laughed softly to himself, "She really does. When she was born, the nurses at the hospital joked around saying she looked so much like me and nothing like..." He stopped talking and looked down at his half eaten bagel.

"Her mom..." Pam finished for him when she noticed that he was struggling to complete the sentence.

"Yeah."

"Does Ellie's mom live in Scranton?"

"No."

"Oh."

Jim leaned back on his hands and looked at Pam solemnly. "I think she's still living in Orange County."

"Oh."

"Yeah. I've not seen or heard from her in months."

"I'm really sorry, Jim." Pam said sincerely. "That must be really difficult for you."

"Yeah, it is." He admitted. "But...you know what, you probably don't want to hear about all of my problems..."

"Jim!"

"As soon as I tell people about Ellie, they freak out. It's like they don't know what to say to me. Some just smile... and then you get the people who tell me how sorry they are... and then once they find out Chloe left, the pity smiles begin..."

Pam reached over and stilled Jim's hand. "What are you talking about?"

"Ellie. She has a hearing problem, she's had it ever since she was born," he explained, his foot moved fidgeting back and forth in the grass. "She was six weeks premature. She was so tiny that she could fit in the palm of my hand." Jim held his right hand out to Pam, showing her how small she was. "She was also really jaundiced - they think that's what caused it."

Pam rested her hand on Jim's bouncing leg. "Oh, Jim."

"That's what I mean. You don't have to feel sorry for me."

"I'm not feeling sorry for you. I actually think it's pretty amazing. She's lucky to have a Dad like you in her life."

"Yeah, I guess..."

"Don't guess anything. Look at me. She really is so lucky to have you."

"Do you really think so?" he asked sincerely.

The look of amazement on Jim's face caused Pam to laugh softly. "Don't sound so shocked by that. I can already tell you're amazing with her."

"I really am sorry I didn't tell you - about everything, Pam. You have to know that. It's just been a really... shitty couple of months, you know?"

"Jim, it's fine," Pam tried reassuring him.

"No it isn't. You've been good friend to me and... I've wanted to tell you... honestly."

Pam was quiet for a moment, before Jim continued.

"I just don't understand how she doesn't want to see Ellie," Jim told her quietly, the obvious relief at finally being able to talk about this with someone evident on his face. He took a deep breath, resting his palm on his cheek and leaned on his crossed legs. "I should probably start from the beginning..."

"That would help," Pam said, smiling at him so that he knew she was just teasing.

Jim lifted a hand up to his chest and couldn't stop the small laugh from escaping. "That hurts, Beesly. I'm pouring my heart and soul out to you and you mock me."

"Suck it up, Halpert, and start your story."

"Chloe and I started dating sophomore year of college..."

TBC

Reviews would be as awesome as waking up tomorrow to the start of season six, and the season 5 DVD boxset in the mail... Honestly I'd really love to know what you think of this story and if you're still with me =)


	4. As The Story Goes

Disclaimer: I own nothing except insane amounts of The Office merchandise.

******

"Chloe and I started dating sophomore year of college. We met at a party my roommate Adam was throwing..." Jim exhaled deeply before continuing. "I asked her out that night and we got serious pretty quickly. I asked her to move in with me after a couple of months when Adam moved out..."

Pam repositioned herself, leaning back on her hands and crossing her ankles out in front of her.

"We were on and off for years. We probably should have learned pretty early on that we weren't good for each other, but it was like we couldn't stop ourselves from getting back together. She suffered really badly from depression, and most of the time I never really knew where I stood with her, you know? We'd wake up in the morning and she'd be so low that she'd not even want to get out of bed, then as the day progressed her mood would lighten and she'd be almost... normal again. But slowly over time those dark times got longer and longer and it was like she was some sort of caricature of herself and I couldn't... help her, I couldn't make her pain go away. And I always felt as though she resented me a little for that. I was the boyfriend, I should have been able to fix those sort of things."

He couldn't help but think how amazing Pam was being. She'd nod her head every now and then to show him she was listening, but remained silent - just letting him talk.

"I remember she was having a really bad day once, and she turned to me and said something like, 'don't you think you'd be better off without me?' I mean, what the fuck was I supposed to say to that? This wasn't the girl I fell in love with talking to me, it's like she was standing right in front of me and yet I missed her."

She uncrossed her legs and moved to sit next to Jim. Her hand softly brushed against his as she made herself comfortable. "That must have been really awful."

He looked at her and she knew just by looking at his eyes that he'd heard what she'd said, but he continued talking. "It was as though she was at the bottom of this huge rollercoaster and had no chance in hell of ever going back up. It got so bad one night, that I piled her in the car and drove her to the ER...they admitted her to the psychiatric unit for a while, but even though I knew it was for her own good I still felt like a jerk for leaving her there by herself."

She subconsciously reached over and held his hand entwining their fingers. "I'm so sorry, I don't even know what to say..."

"When they released her, I stupidly thought everything would be fine and that we'd go back to how we used to be... before everything happened. But that shit doesn't just go away... This went on for years. I know you probably think I'm an idiot for staying with her, but I honestly did love her. I was so naive; I thought that I could help her. So, four years after we start dating we find out she's pregnant - she flips out, literally. I mean she goes nuts. Because of the medication she was taking, she was... uh, pretty irregular anyway and it constantly made her gain weight, so this wasn't unusual to us. We only found out because she needed a blood test every six months to make sure everything was okay with the pills she was taking. So when they told us she was already 26 weeks gone - I was so fucking excited. For a split second I thought that this could be it, this could be what she needs to get better, but Chloe... she looked at me and told me she didn't want 'it,'" he spat bitterly, "that she didn't want a baby and she definitely didn't want to be somebody's mom. She knew how much I wanted kids - she fucking knew how much this would mean to me, but she was basically saying that if she could have, she'd have gotten rid of her... it... and that made me feel sick. It was like she knew how to hurt me and she abused that. I should have realised something was up when she suddenly started telling me how excited she was about the baby a couple of days later, but I wanted to believe her. I honestly thought..." He paused and used the palm of his free hand to rub his eyes. "I thought this was it, this was what we needed to make everything okay. I look back now and I can't believe how stupid I was. All that time she was planning on leaving as soon as the baby was born...Ellie was born on June 4th but she had to stay in the NICU for a couple of weeks because she was so tiny... we brought her home on the 22nd... I woke up the 23rd to a note telling me Chloe had left and that she didn't want me to contact her."

"That's awful... God, I'm so sorry, Jim..." She rubbed her thumb softly over the knuckles of his hand and squeezed it gently. He looked down at their joint hands briefly and smiled. He was sure that she was totally unaware of what she was doing and that it was just her natural way of trying to comfort him. He wanted to thank her- to tell her how much he appreciated her just being there and listening to him, but he needed to finish telling her everything else first.

He hadn't realised until now just how much he needed to talk to someone about this. It was like he couldn't control his mouth and what was pouring out of it. "I didn't listen. I contacted her later that day and she told me that we both wanted different things in life and she would appreciate it if I never contacted her again. I asked her about Ellie...I said 'what about our daughter? You're just going to leave her?' She corrected me, and she said 'she's your daughter, Jim - not mine.' That was the last I'd heard from her. Her friends apparently haven't seen her and she has changed her cell number."

She lifted their joint hand and lightly tapped it against his knee. "I can't believe she left you like that."

"She's ill, I get that...but." "I don't understand how you're defending her like that," she sighed, a hint of frustration to her voice. "You deserve SO much better than that."

He exhaled sharply. "There are times when I try and hate her, but she's sick. Deep down I know that the Chloe I first met is still there... or at least I hope she is, for her sake." He wiped his nose with the back of his hand and sniffed loudly. He casually attempted to wipe away the solitary tear that slid down his cheek, but gave up when he sensed how pointless it was. "God, I'm sorry. I've totally unloaded all of my shit on to you."

She smiled, turning her head to look at him, squinting in to the bright sunshine that was shining directly in to her eyes. At noticing this, Jim casually leaned forwards blocking the light from her eyes. "Hey, don't do that. What are friends for, right?"

"Thank you," he said earnestly as he looked down at their joint hands and smiled softly. "You're holding my hand."

He saw the blush gradually creep over her cheeks as she attempted to pull her hand away. "Sorry, I didn't realise I was doing it."

"Hey, I'm not complaining," he assured her, tightening the grip on her hand.

*****

**To Be Continued.**

Reviews would be as awesome as waking up tomorrow to find Away We Go has already been released on DVD.

**End Notes**: Apologies for such a short update, but I really felt as though Jim's explanation needed to be it's own chapter. I just didn't want anything getting in the way of it, you know? I hope you'll all see what I mean. God, It was SO hard for me not having any Ellie in this, but they'll be lots of Jim, Pam and Ellie to come, so stay with me. Also, would you guys like me to provide pictures of some of the signs that I've used and will continue to use?


	5. Lions and Dryers and Dwights, Oh My!

Disclaimer: I own nothing except insane amounts of The Office merchandise.

******

As soon as Jim explained the situation with Chloe and Ellie, the mood shifted. It amazed him how at one moment he could have a fairly intense conversation with Pam and the next, they would be sitting close together in the park, enjoying a comfortable silence and finishing the remainder of their lunch.

"So, come on. I've told you something about me, now it's your turn. You have to tell me something about you."

"Wow, how old are you again?" she laughed as she brushed a few stray crumbs off of her lap.

She tugged gently at their joint hands, but Jim just squeezed back in response, not letting go. Pam looked up at him and smiled, resting her hand back in its original spot.

"Twenty five."

"Okay smarty pants... let me think." She moved slightly, sitting on Jim's jacket, with her legs tucked neatly under her. "Oh, I have something. This was a couple of years ago though so you can't judge me too much, okay?"

"I promise," he grinned, moving his free hand behind his back and crossing his fingers.

She laughed as she leaned back to look behind him. "You know I totally just saw what you did, right?"

"Damn. Does that mean it no longer counts?" he teased, bringing his hand back around and resting it on top of his outstretched legs.

"Do you not want to hear my story?"

"No, no, I'm sorry. Go on."  
"So, like I said, this was a few years ago and I was still dating this guy Roy at the time. The crappy little apartment I lived in didn't have a washer or dryer, so I used to take my laundry back home to my Mom and Dad's. I don't know why, but one day I just thought to myself, 'you know what, Pam. You're twenty-two years old, you need to be more independent - you need to take your laundry to the Laundromat.'"

"Wow, that's deep, Beesly."

She shushed him playfully before continuing her story. "So I get there and throw everything into one of the washers, load it up and go take a seat while it... does its thing. All of a sudden, and I'm not kidding, there's water everywhere. I couldn't get it to stop pouring out of the washer. At this point everyone is looking at me and I have no idea what to do. This old lady...I think she worked there... starts yelling at me in Spanish and I'm freaking out. Apparently the door was jammed or something and it just wouldn't open or close."

Jim chuckled a little as he listened to Pam explain one of her most embarrassing moments to him. "So what happened?"

"They managed to yank the door open, threw all of my wet clothes into a bag and told me not to come back..."

"No way, Beesly. You've actually been banned from a Laundromat? That's pretty badass stuff. I'm impressed!"

********

It was quiet in the car on the way back to the office, but Jim was okay with that. He was lost in his own thoughts and the silence was strangely comforting to him. The atmosphere was entirely different from earlier that day; something electric and exciting had replaced that awful feeling that had previously encompassed them. He was pretty sure that she had also felt the shift in energy between them.

His hands loosely gripped the steering wheel, tapping lightly to a beat that could only be heard in his head. He turned slightly to look at Pam, briefly smiling at her before he returned his eyes to the road. All of a sudden the Knight Rider theme song filled the car.

Pam threw her head back against the headrest and laughed. "Please tell me that isn't your ringtone? Oh my, God! You're such a dork."

"I'll have you know Pam, that Knight Rider was a classic in the 1980's. You should really show some respect," he teased as he patted the pocket of his pants and then the breast pocket of his shirt in search of his cell phone. "Shit, where did I put it?" he cursed as he began looking on the floor and in the cup holder next to him. The car swerved a little as Jim continued to reach one arm under his seat trying to locate his phone.

"Okay," she giggled uneasily as she reached over and grabbed the steering wheel. "You need to pull over because otherwise you're going to kill us."

He sat up and concentrated fully on the road in front of him. He signalled to switch lanes and pull over at the side of the road. "Sorry about that," he apologised, biting his lip guiltily. "Okay, seriously. Where is it? I could hear it. I know it's not lost."

Pam unbuckled her seatbelt and turned around in her seat so that she could lean over and have a look in the back. "I think it fell out of your bag."

Jim turned his head to see what she was doing and his eyes wandered straight to her butt that was now directly in front of his face. He could feel his cheeks getting hot and looked away. "Got it," she smiled as she handed over the now beeping phone. "You have a voicemail."

"Thanks," he replied as he checked the called ID to see who had called. "It was my mom."

"Aren't you going to listen to it?"

"No. I'll just call her back. Is that okay?" he asked, having already pressed speed dial, bringing the phone up to his ear.

"Don't worry, it's fine."

"Th..." he held up his index finger as he heard a voice on the other line. "Hey Mom, you just called. Is everything okay? Yeah, he should be in her crib...Okay, try my bed because I brought her in with me for a bit this morning... No, she woke up at about five... Mom, I know that." Jim rolled his eyes as he looked at Pam and mouthed an apology. "Did you find him? Good. Yeah, I know, she won't sleep without him...all right. I love you too. I will be. Okay, bye." He snapped his phone shut and tossed it in to his lap. "Sorry about that, we had a bit of a stuffed animal emergency," he explained sheepishly as he pulled the car back on to the road. Ellie can't sleep without Rawr."

Resting her head against the window she asked, "Rawr? What is Rawr?"

He looked over and teasingly shook his head, "Isn't it blatantly obvious what Rawr is? Rawr's a lion, Pam. A big scary stuffed lion."

"That's so sweet. Did you name him yourself?"

"No," he laughed. "My four year old nephew was given that job. And it's really cute because Ellie has started to say his name whenever she sees him." It felt so good to finally be able to talk to someone about his perfect little girl that was waiting for him each night when he got home from work. He hadn't realised just how much he wanted to share all of the little things about Ellie that made his heart swell with pride.

"Well, he was very creative."

*****

They pulled into the Business Park's parking lot and Jim exited the car quickly, surprising himself by walking around to the other side and opening Pam's door for her. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been so chivalrous, and from the look on her face, he figured it had been a long time since anybody had treated Pam with that sort of respect. That got him thinking. Had Pam's previous boyfriends opened doors for her, or pulled out her chair when taking her to a fancy restaurant? Okay, what am I doing? He thought to himself. Why am I even thinking like this? I'm not her boyfriend; I shouldn't be comparing myself to them.

The elevator dinged at their floor and they hastily made their way towards the glass door leading to their office. They stopped suddenly when they both reached for the door handle at the same time. Their fingers touched and he was sure his hand was on fire. Her cheeks reddened and he knew he was blushing too as he felt the heat creep up over his collar. Standing back with an outstretched arm he nodded his head, indicating for her to go first.

As he hung his suit jacket on the coat stand, he saw Dwight in his periphery, standing up and crossing his arms in disgust. "Well, well, well. Look who decided to come back to work? You're tardy. It makes you both look lazy and unprofessional and I'm going to tell Michael."

Pam sat down at her desk and logged on to her computer. "Sorry, Dwight."

"It's okay, Pamela. I accept your apology. I also know this is very out of character for you to behave in such a way."

Jim turned to Pam and tried desperately to suppress the smile that was threatening to appear on his face. "I'm sorry too, Dwight," he apologized.

He shook his head, "I do not accept your apology, Jim. I may not have known you for very long, but I have an incredible sixth sense about people like you."

"A sixth sense?

"Yes, Jim. Are you too stupid to know what that is? I don't believe you can be trusted. You're devious."

Pam could be heard from behind her desk trying to control her laughter. A couple of snorts escaped, which Jim noted he'd have to tease her about later.

"Well I don't know what to say, Dwight. If you won't accept my apology..." he said, walking over and throwing his messenger back over the back of his chair.

Dwight bent down so that he was face to face with Jim. "I'm warning you now. Do not try and corrupt the receptionist because you will fail. I'll be watching you," he told him as he stood up and barged into Michael's office without knocking.

*****

Jim replaced the handset of his phone and began filling in the necessary paperwork for a sale he'd just completed.

"Hey, I got you a soda."

He looked up and saw Pam standing next to his desk. "It's Grape Soda you like, right?" she asked.

It wasn't until that moment that he realised just how thirsty he was. "Thanks. How much do I owe you?" he asked as he pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and held out a dollar bill.

She turned and began making her way towards the break room. "Nothing. You bought lunch."

He followed quickly and took a seat across from her. "Yeah, but I kind of owed you lunch, so that doesn't count."

"Well, think of this one as a... just accept the damn drink, okay?" The corners of her mouth twitched slightly as she tried to stop the smile from forming as she spoke.

"Well, thank you. So hey," he anxiously cleared his throat before continuing, "I don't feel like we got to finish our conversation at the park today. I didn't know if you'd maybe want to... you don't have to of course, but if you'd like to come over one night. We can order a pizza or something."

"Oh, urm."

"We could order from that place on Wheeler, that's near me."

"You mean Cousin Johnny's?"

"Yeah, I think that's it, why?"

"Jim. Have you ever even tasted their pizza? Let's just say I'd rather eat the box it came in."

Gently spinning the can on the table in front of him, he raised his eyebrows. "Okay, so how about you come over, we order pizza - but you can choose where from?"

She paused for a moment, "Sure. I can do Wednesday, if that works for you?" She smiled.

"Then it's a date...I mean, not an actual date-date, but like friends having dinner," he stuttered.

"Right, friends having dinner."

Twisting the tab off of the can, he looked up at her awkwardly. "Right. We are friends, right? I'd say we are."

He could tell she was nervous by the way she was fidgeting in her seat and repeatedly sliding the charm of her necklace along the silver chain around her neck. In the short time that he'd known her, he'd already memorised the random little things she did in various situations. He'd noticed that when she was bored she'd pull the sleeves of her cardigan down over her hands and wrap her arms around herself. He hasn't the first clue as to why she does it, but it's now become so familiar to him that it's almost a comfort to him to see her do it.

"That sounds really good."

All of a sudden the door to the break room was kicked open by a disgusted looking Dwight. The door slowly swung back, narrowly missing him and nearly ruining his dramatic entrance.

"Do you not listen to anything I say, Pam? He's brainwashing you and you're letting him."

Jim couldn't stop the laugh from escaping any longer, and Pam followed shortly afterwards. "I am your superior, Jim...MICHAEL!!!" He shouted, darting out of the break room and towards Michael's office when he realised neither of them were listening to him.

To Be Continued.

******

Reviews are greatly appreciated. 


	6. It's All About The Woo

Disclaimer: I own nothing except insane amounts of The Office merchandise.

****

Jim pulled into the Wegman's parking lot on his way home from work. He had about an hour and a half before Pam was due to come over, and it wouldn't take him long to pick up the few things he needed at the store. Automatically, he drove towards the "mother and baby" spaces located next to the entrance of the store. As he backed into the space he remembered that Ellie wasn't with him. He refused to be one of those people he hated that parked in those spaces when they clearly didn't have any children with them. It didn't take him long to find somewhere else to park. He grabbed a cart and hurried inside, going over in his head the list of items he needed. They were ordering pizza, so he didn't need to pick up much. But he thought it might be a nice idea to have something other than apple juice or milk to offer her to drink. He began making his way towards the alcohol but decided to make a quick detour towards the baby food to pick up a few of Ellie's favorites.

He made it to the liquor aisle thinking he knew what he wanted, but of course the selection totally intimidated him. Standing in front of hundreds of different bottles of wine, it hit him that he had absolutely no idea what she liked to drink.

"Don't think too hard, your head might explode."

Jim spun around and smiled warmly at the elderly woman standing behind him.

"I can see you may need some assistance, am I right?" she asked as she pointed to her name badge with the slogan 'Here to help, just ask' printed underneath her name. "Having trouble deciding what to buy?"

He glanced quickly at her nametag, pausing for a moment to lean down and read the name on her badge, "Hi, Dorothy. Yeah, you could say that. I'm not really a big wine drinker, but I have a friend coming over for dinner tonight..."

"Ohh, is this a lady friend?" She asked curiously.

He could feel himself beginning to blush. "Urm, yeah, sort of."

"Well it's one or the other. Either she is or she isn't. Judging by the colour you're turning, I'm assuming she is. And that she's pretty and you like her."

He gulped and shoved his hands into his pockets. Why did he all of a sudden feel as though he was back in high school, answering his Grandma's nosy questions about whether or not he had a girlfriend?

"I hope you're going to at least fry her up a little chicken to go with those vegetables," she teased cheekily as she peered inside his cart.

"Oh yeah, no. We're urm, we're ordering pizza."

"Pizza?"

"Yeah."

"How very trendy. You young people court so differently nowadays. So, you have no idea what she likes to drink at all?"

He shook his head. "I've only ever seen her drink tea at work..."

"Well, do you have some tea that you can offer her for later on in the evening?"

"I... I don't think so. I'll get some before I leave."

"Good idea. Actually, I'll get my friend Arthur to fetch you some." She placed her thumb and middle finger in her mouth and whistled sharply, attracting the attention of a short grey haired man who was busy stocking shelves at the end of the aisle. "Art, go get this young boy a box of..." She turned towards Jim and waited for his answer.

"I think she likes camomile."

Dorothy raised her voice slightly so that Arthur could hear her. "A box of camomile and a selection of flavoured teas. Thanks, sweetheart."

"Flavoured teas?"

"Yes. I thought it would be a good idea. It would look more natural for you to have a selection box at home and not just her favourite. The aim is to impress her, not scare her. You want her to think how lovely it is that you have tea for her to drink at your house. But you also want to have her wonder if you bought it especially for her or if you enjoy the odd cup yourself. That's why I made sure you don't just have her favourite as an option."

He looked at his watch quickly and noticed he'd already been there longer than he'd planned.

"Don't worry, this won't take long. Now, here's what I think you should do. Buy a bottle of Merlot, some Chardonnay, and then a nice Rose. This way you're giving her a choice," she said as she picked up the wines she'd recommended and handed them to him.

He bent down and picked himself up a six-pack of Corona and placed it in his cart. "Thanks for helping me out. I had no idea what to get."

"It was my pleasure. But you know what else you need? Follow me, darling," she instructed as she made her way over to the in store bakery. "All women love something sweet after a meal. Ohh, how about this...? Oh no, wait, that's carrot cake, you have to be so careful with those, you never know if people will like it or not," she muttered, almost as if she was talking to herself. "You should definitely buy a chocolate cake for dessert. He'll take that one," she told the girl serving them. "My friend Rose makes these and they're delicious." She winked, "Let me tell you, your lady friend will be very impressed with your choice."

"Thanks again for all your help," he replied as he gingerly placed the cake into the cart.

"Don't mention it. It's lovely to see such a nice boy like yourself taking the time to try and impress someone. You see all these young people in trouble on Maury, and they're not sure who their baby daddy is... and it makes me so sad. There's just no wooing anymore. You know?"

Jim kept his head down, his toe scuffing ineffectually at a mark on the shiny floor. "Yeah..."

Jim lifted his hand slightly and waved as he saw Arthur approaching them, boxes in hand. "Oh, thanks Arty," Dorothy smiled as she took the boxes of tea she'd requested from him. "I think you're all done, dear."

"Yep, got everything. Thanks again, Dorothy. You're a life saver."

"It's been my pleasure. But you have to promise me one thing."

"What's that?" he asked as they made their way towards the cash registers.

"Run a comb through your hair before she gets there. You have such a handsome face, but right now you look like Cousin Itt."

Jim grinned and ran a hand through his hair as he began placing his items onto the conveyor belt.

"Yeah, that makes it better," she laughed, as she began to walk toward the back of the store. Suddenly, she turned around and waved. "I hope you have a lovely evening... ah, if only I were a couple of decades younger..."

Jim smiled to himself as he left the store. He was pretty sure he wasn't supposed to have heard that last part.

*****

Jim moved things around a little as he tried to make room in the refrigerator for all of his new purchases.

"Does the liquor aisle at Wegman's have anything left in stock?" Larissa teased as she popped into the kitchen.

Jim spun around to face his mom and laughed. "Haha. Very funny, Mom. Have you ever thought about taking your little comedy show on the road?"

"Don't be silly. I couldn't be away from you guys for that long," she chuckled light heartedly as if that was her only reason for not taking him seriously.

He shut the refrigerator door, resting his head back against it as he ran his hand through his hair. "Do you think I bought too much?" he asked, wringing his hands together anxiously. "I was talked in to buying one of each by the lady at the store."

"The lady at the store? Did you really need that much help?" she grinned.

"I think she was trying to educate me on how to 'woo a woman.'"

Larissa brought her hand up to her mouth to try and stifle the laugh that was threatening to escape. "So, did you learn anything?"

"Uh, yeah. Girls like chocolate cake..."

"Sounds like this lady knows what she's talking about."

Jim exhaled sharply. "I don't know if I'm ready for this, Mom."

"What do you mean? Of course you are," she tried assuring him. "It's just a date, sweetheart."

"It's not a date, Mom..." Jim eyed his mother; just managing to stay silent even as his brain begged him to ask her why the hell she thought this was a date. He'd never said it was a date. Never even hinted at the possibility of this being a date. Date? No. Then realising he'd just spent several seconds convincing himself of what he already knew, he shook his head and continued the staring contest.

She raised her eyebrows and looked at him before shaking her head. "Okay, whatever you say."

"It isn't, Mom. She's just coming over for pizza." He kept his eyes leveled on his mother's until it became quite obvious that she wasn't buying what he was telling her. Which was ridiculous, because this wasn't a date! Was it? He looked around. Wine, food, desert... check, check, check... oh dear God, this might very well be a date after all! Knowing he was on the verge of hyperventilating, Jim took a long steadying breath. No, not a date. Just an evening with a friend. Who happened to be a woman that he really liked. Big deal. He'd get food and booze for anyone.

"Oh I'm sorry, are you back in ninth grade?"

"Mooooooom!"

"Apparently, you are."

He placed both hands on the island in front of him and exhaled sharply. "You're not helping."

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. But what do you want me to say?" she asked carefully. "Whether you think this is a 'date' or not is pretty irrelevant, don't you think? All that matters is Pam is coming over tonight because she wants to. She likes you, Jim and you like her. Don't push her away. No one says anything has to happen right now, so just see what happens."

"Yeah, you're right."

"I'm always right," she teased as she walked around the island and stood next to him. "Now, enjoy yourself. Ellie's already asleep. I bought you some more of that Baby Orajel and put it in the refrigerator along with the Baby Tylenol," she told him as she leaned in to kiss him on the cheek.

"I know where everything is kept, Mom. This is my house after all. "Now go." He shooed, pushing her towards the front door.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. I'm going." She grinned as she grabbed her purse and turned around, "Have a nice evening. Behave yourself."

"Mom, I'm a grown man of twenty five, I'm a father for Gods' sakes. You really don't need to tell me to behave myself."

"Yes, honey, but you are still a man."

"Mooooooooooooom!"

"And you wonder why I treat you like you're in High school?"

"Leave. Now." He warned, trying as best he could to sound like he meant it, but he couldn't help the small smile appear on his face.

*****

The doorbell rang and Jim anxiously rubbed his sweaty palms down the front of his pants leg.

"Hey," he grinned as he opened the door and greeted Pam. They'd not socialised outside of work, apart from the odd trip to Poor Richard's, so this was the first time he'd ever seen her in anything other than her work clothes. She wasn't wearing anything particularly special, just a pair of dark blue jeans and a pink t-shirt, but he couldn't seem to take his eyes off of her. He snapped out of it quickly, sensing he may start creeping her out if he didn't stop.

"I made this," Pam said as she handed him something oddly shaped wrapped tightly in aluminium foil.

He stood back and motioned her inside with his arm. "Come in. So, what's this then?" he asked curiously, as he brought the item up to his nose and sniffed it. "It smells really good."

"It's garlic bread."

"Woah, you made it yourself?"

She looked over at him bashfully. "It's really not that difficult."

"Yeah, but this is pretty cool. I've never had the homemade stuff before."

"Well don't thank me until you've tried it. It's been awhile since I made some."

He made his way into the kitchen and placed the garlic bread on the counter. "So, can I get you a drink?"

"Sure, what do you have?" she asked, leaning up against the counter. He watched as she looked around his place. As her eyes lingered on the kitchen chairs he suddenly realised that those good manners his mother had drilled into him were obviously not as naturally occurring as he'd have liked. She wasn't going to sit unless he asked her to. He smiled and pulled the refrigerator open and pretended to look around, even though he knew exactly what was inside. "We have some wine - red, white or rose..."

"Nice selection."

He turned to look at her and laughed lightly. "It's a long story. I don't know if I can trust you with that sort of classified information," he teased as he continued to list off the choice of drinks. "Beer, soda, water or milk."

"As appetising as a nice cold glass of milk sounds, I think I'll go for the white wine, is that okay?"

Reaching into the cabinet above Pam's head, he pulled down two wine glasses. He had to try really hard not to lean in and smell her hair. God, she smells good, he thought, shutting the cabinet. He smiled as he turned to face Pam. "That sounds perfect. Oh, and you can sit down... if you want." he told her, embarrassed that he'd not asked her earlier.

They sipped their drinks in silence for a couple of minutes before Jim couldn't take the quiet anymore. "So, where do you want to order from?"

"Oh, I have their number in my phone," she replied excitedly as she flipped open her cell. "I was thinking about this on the way over, and I know you'll love this place! It's called Mama Mia's; it's on Green Ridge, right by the library. Do you know it? The food there is amazing."

"Alright, that sounds good. What pizza do you like?" He didn't really care what they ordered or where they ordered from, but he found it cute that Pam clearly liked this place enough to have it stored in her cell phone.

She bit her lip and bought the phone up to cover her mouth. "Are you going to hate me if I told you I like plain old cheese pizza?"

"That's fine," he laughed at how embarrassed she looked when she admitted this to him. "You can order whatever you want."

"Really? You don't mind?"

"Honestly, it's fine."

"Seriously, you're sure?"

"Oh my God," he chuckled as he grabbed the phone out of her hand. "How about we make a deal. Next time I get to pick what we order, okay? Then we're even." As soon as it left his mouth he realised what he'd said and how presumptuous it must have sounded. They'd not even gotten to dinner yet and he was already assuming they'd be doing this again. He certainly hoped they'd be doing this again.

"Wow, if you keep bossing me around like that, Mister, there won't be a next time," she teased as she dialled the number for the pizza place and handed him the phone. His eyes snapped straight to Pam's. He couldn't help but smile at the slightly mischievous light in her eyes. She was flirting with him and the one word floating around his head as he realised that was 'score.' Just as he was forcing his mouth to re-engage so he could get off the damn phone, she looked up, caught his eyes and grinned right at him. He couldn't help but tune out the pizza guy once more and give her a dopey grin in return. He decided it was a good job that she chose that moment to brush her hair behind her ear. Otherwise they'd have been staring at each other for who knows how long before the moment was broken and he actually got himself together enough to order their food. Maybe this might be a date after all. He wasn't going to argue. Wine, dinner, desert, beautiful woman - check, check, check... oh hell yes, check. This was so a date.

"Okay, so they said they'll be here in about twenty five minutes. How long does the garlic bread take?" he asked as he began poking at the foil.

"It takes about fifteen minutes, so we don't have to put it in yet. Actually, if we put it on a low light until the pizza gets here, that should be fine," she told him as she ran her finger along the rim of the wine glass.

Jim carefully unwrapped the bread and placed it on a baking tray, licking the excess garlic butter off of his fingers. "Mmm, this is going to taste so good, I can feel it."

He set the timer on the oven and topped off their drinks.

"Wanna go sit in the living room? It's more comfortable."

"Sure."

Leading the way, she followed closely behind him, taking her time to look and take in everything around her.

"Okay, this is seriously the cutest picture I have ever seen," she gushed, picking up a framed photo from the side table and sitting next to him on the couch.

He leaned in closer so he could see which picture she was talking about and smiled proudly. "It was her first Halloween. I had to make it special."

"You dressed her up as a..."

"A lion."

She threw her head back and laughed. "Her little mane is so cute! And aww, look at the little paws."

"I know she won't remember it, but I couldn't resist. The costumes were so cute." Smiling warmly, he took the picture from her hands and placed it on the table in front of them, the awkward silence once again overtaking them.

He swallowed a large mouthful of wine before he turned to her. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

Groaning quietly, he ran a hand through his hair. "This - this shouldn't be so awkward."

"I know."

"I'm not usually like this, I promise. It's just... I haven't really done this in a while."

He could see her biting her lip nervously as she hid behind her glass. "What do you mean, this?" she asked softly.

Using his index finger he bashfully moved it between the two of them. "Uh, you know..."

"Not really."

He didn't blame her for making this difficult for him. He was positive that he was sending all sorts of mixed signals. How was she supposed to know what he was thinking if he didn't even know what was going on himself?

"I haven't done the whole dating thing for a while." He saw the corners of her mouth twitch, but he wasn't sure if it was the start of a smile or...

"So, is this a date for you?" she asked casually.

He pulled the neck of his sweater away from his body. Good God, is it me or is it hot in here? "Urm..."

"I think I've made it pretty obvious how I feel about you," she beamed, resting her hand gently on his bouncing knee.

"I, uh."

"Hey, look at me," she insisted, bringing her hand up to his face.

Looking up he attempted to smile. "I really like you- you have no idea." He breathed.

"Yeah?" She replied as she bit her lip nervously before breaking out into a small smile.

"Yeah, it's just - I don't know if I'm ready for this. I want to be ready. I really want to be ready."

"Nothing has to happen right now," she assured him, "but it's nice to know where we both stand, right?"

"Right." He agreed, taking her hand that was resting lightly on his cheek and entwining their fingers. "Nothing has to happen tonight - I mean, I really want it to... really. Like a lot. It's just..."

"Jim, come on, you don't have to explain anything to me. I know all this."  
Lightly tapping their joint hands against his knee, he smiled softly, "I know you know, and that's why you're so awesome." He told her, the raw honesty in his voice shocking even himself.

"Thank you."

Panic evident in his voice. "This isn't awkward for you now, is it? Have I already screwed things up?" he laughed nervously.

"No," she promised. Leaning forward and raising her wine glass to her lips.

"Well, just so you know, I have a history of being thoroughly awkward around pretty girls."

Resting her head on the back of the couch, she grinned. "I don't believe you."

"Oh, trust me. I'm not lying about this. Back in Elementary school, I took this girl Jessica that I really liked to the park, so I could impress her with my mad baseball skills," he began, "she was on the softball team so she knew what she was doing. She threw the ball to me and I gave it all I had and hit it - and I ended up hitting her right in the face. I felt really bad, she broke her nose and everything..."

Turning her head towards him, her eyes wide. "Oh my, God. You broke her nose?"

"Yep, she needed surgery and everything."

He could see her trying hard not to laugh, her teeth desperately digging in to her lips. "She must have hated you."

"Yeah, interestingly enough we actually dated for a while in college."

"Aww, see, it wasn't that bad."

"Urm, Pam. I don't know where you've been for the last ten minutes but - broken nose... it really can't get much worse than that. But, do you see my point? I'm totally awkward."

"Well, as long as we don't play any sports for awhile, I think we'll be okay."

They laughed together awkwardly, not so much at what he'd just said, but at the situation they were in. Their eyes met, and suddenly she was bringing her hand up to his face and brushing some stray strands of hair out of his eyes.

He exhaled deeply. "Wow. Do you know how hot you are right now?" he asked her.

Removing her hand from his face and leaning back on the couch, she smiled coyly at him. "No, why don't you tell me?" she whispered, a slight shake to her voice as a deep blush crept up her neck and covered her cheeks.

"Well, aren't you forward, Beesly?" he teased, enjoying watching her squirm.

She quickly brought a hand up to her mouth and gasped, "Oh my, God, I didn't mean it like that."

"I don't know, Pam. You seemed pretty serious when you said it," he teased, thoroughly enjoying embarrassing her. He decided there and then that making her blush was now one of his all time new favourite activities.

Unable to take his eyes off of her, Jim breathed deeply, "You're killing me," he told her seriously. "I may have to get you to sit over there," he teased, grabbing her hand again and pointing to the armchair in the corner of the room. He subconsciously ran his thumb across the backs of her knuckles and watched as she shivered and goose bumps appeared on her arms.

"Yeah? Why? Is Ellie going to wake up, come downstairs all by herself and catch us sitting together on the couch?" she asked him teasingly, as she used her free hand to lightly rake her nails over his wrist.

He sighed, "That feels really good."

Suddenly the doorbell rang, causing them to both pull apart. Jim jumped up and smoothed a hand down his shirt. "Looks like the pizza's here," he blurted out, relieved, and yet slightly disappointed to have been interrupted. "I'll just..." he pointed to the hall as he rushed towards the door.

To Be Continued

****** 


	7. Getting There

Disclaimer: I own nothing except insane amounts of The Office merchandise.

*****

"I think I ate too much pizza," Jim groaned as he ran his hand along his stomach and stretched his legs out in front of him. "I'm full."

Pam reached for a napkin and wiped her hands. "I have to agree with you, you most definitely ate too much. Did we really need to order two pizzas?"

"Hey, I hate to break it to you, Pam, but I think you're doing a pretty fine job devouring that pizza all on your own over there. So yeah, we really did need to order two."

"You're a jerk," she giggled as she took another slice from the box.

Lifting the lid of the cardboard box he peered inside, "I'll trade you my last piece of pizza for your last piece of garlic bread."

Raising her eyebrows, she reached for her bread. "I thought you said you were full?"

"I meant I was full on pizza," he explained as he waved the pizza box in front of her face. "You know you want it, look how lonely it is sitting in the box all by itself. It's saying 'Pam! Eaaat me!' Can you hear it?"

She laughed as she held her plate of garlic bread out towards him. "Wait, we need to exchange," she told him as she held her other hand out for the pizza box.

"Are you afraid I'm going to make a run for it or something?" he teased as he grabbed the remaining piece of garlic bread and popped it into his mouth. "Seriously this is so good," he told her in-between mouthfuls of food.

"Well I'm glad you liked it."

"You need to show me how to make this."

"Yeah? You like to cook?" she asked, grinning at him from across the couch. "I just didn't see you as the cooking type."

"Yeah? Well what type am I then?" he asked, clearly enjoying the look of discomfort on Pam's face.

"I don't know - urgh, stop teasing!" she scolded when she looked up and saw the mischievous look in Jim's eyes.

He leaned over and poked her arm. "Sorry, I couldn't resist."

"So, you like to cook?"

"Yeah I do. I don't get to cook as much as I used to," he sighed, "but now Ellie's starting on solid foods, so maybe I'll start again. Although there is only so much you can do with vegetables and a blender..."

She raised her eyebrows slightly. "Soup..." she thought aloud.

"Yeah, she's not quite mastered soup yet. She's more a fan of mush."

Pam shrugged as she began to tidy up. "Who can blame her?"

"Are you telling me I could have forgotten about pizza and just liquidised you a bunch of different vegetables?" he grinned, shooing her hands away from the boxes on the floor. "I've got that."

"I don't mind helping you clean up."

"I know you don't mind, but I don't want you to," he replied as he teasingly jerked the pizza boxes out of her hand. "Are you full? Or do you have room for some chocolate cake?"

Her eyes lit up as he pulled her up, "Jim Jim Jim, there is always room for chocolate cake."

He chuckled quietly to himself at just how accurate Dorothy had been; chocolate really was the way to a woman's heart.

"Follow me, my lady, and I will lead you to the cake," he said, ushering her out of the living room.

"Gracias, Se or."

"You're a dork," he insisted, giving her a wink as he turned back around.

They made their way into the kitchen, where Jim disposed of the pizza boxes and placed their plates in the dishwasher. He could see out of the corner of his eye that Pam was following his every move and the thought of that made his heart beat faster. The way she was watching him so intensely sent shivers down his spine and he found it hard to concentrate. He could almost feel her eyes burning a hole in him and he loved it.

She was standing next to the cupboard where he kept the plates, and as he bent down he was hit by the smell of her body lotion. The intoxicating mix of vanilla and some sort of berry seemed to be taking over, and for a brief moment he forgot what he was looking for. He recovered quickly, grabbing the plates they'd need for dessert and standing back up. His legs shook slightly from crouching down and he wobbled for a second.

"You okay?" she asked as she placed a hand on his arm to steady him.

He hoped to God he wasn't blushing, but he began to feel his face getting warmer and he knew then that his body was betraying him. "Yeah, my leg fell asleep," he frowned, shaking his leg and stretching it out in front of him to try and ease the pins and needles that shot down his leg and into his foot. Looking down, he noticed the concerned look on Pam's face and felt his heart speed up when he realised her hand was still resting on his arm, causing a quick blush and a quicker withdrawal.

He was about to open the refrigerator when they heard a loud cry from upstairs.

"Shit! I'm so sorry."

"Hey, it's fine. Go," Pam insisted as she took the dessert plates from his hands and pushed him lightly towards the door.

"Thanks," he called over his shoulder as he made his way into the hall. "I wont be long, the cake's in the refrigerator. Help yourself to more drink. I'll be right back."

He made his way up to Ellie's room quickly, taking the stairs two at a time. As much as he was enjoying himself with Pam and slowly beginning to accept the idea that this was a date, the moment he heard his baby crying for him, the events of the evening were pushed to the back of his mind. There was only one girl that mattered at that moment, and that was Ellie.

He carefully scooped her out of her crib and placed a kiss on her warm forehead. He brought his hand up and moved it in a semi circle motion in front of his face, ending with his fingers closed near his chin. "Hi beautiful," he cooed, rocking her gently in his arms. "What's the matter, baby?" he signed, knowing she didn't have her aids in. She threw herself back in his arms and he had to use his right hand to hold her still. "Tell Daddy what's wrong."

In between sobs, she banged the index fingers of both hands together beside her ear several times.

Grabbing her blankie from her crib, he made his way down the stairs. "It's okay, sweetheart," he whispered soothingly to her. He was fully aware she wouldn't be able to hear him, but the soft vibrations of his voice rattling through his chest always seemed to calm her down.

"Shhh, come on. It's okay," Jim murmured as he brought a squirming Ellie closer to his chest and made his way into the kitchen, where Pam was meticulously cutting two slices of cake and ensuring that they were both even.

Pam looked up as he entered the room, and smiled sympathetically. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, she's just teething and it's giving her an ouchy ear," he explained, cringing slightly at the use of the term ouchy. He'd gotten so used to talking like that around Ellie that it had become second nature to him now. He noticed Pam trying unsuccessfully to hide her grin and he realised that maybe he hadn't embarrassed himself at all. Maybe despite all of the freaking out he'd done, Pam actually accepted him for who he was - somebody's father. Not every girl thought baby talk was endearing.

"Beep beep," he said, as he pressed Ellie's nose in a futile attempt to make her smile. He scooted past Pam, and opened the refrigerator door taking out the Infant Tylenol. "Hey, can you do me a favour?"

"Hmm, me?"

"No, the guy behind you. Yes, you," Jim nodded as he offered her the bottle of medicine along with a tiny syringe. "Can you fill it up to there?" he asked, pointing to a little line in the plastic.

"Uhm."

"It's easy, you just stick the syringe tip into the bottle and pull up the plunger until you have what you need."

"Yeah, I don't know..."

"I can do it if you want."

"Okay."

"But you'd have to hold Ellie for me," he said, holding out the screaming youngster and smiled sweetly.

She shook her head and held out her hand, "I think I'll take the medicine if that's okay." She filled the syringe and handed it back to Jim. As it passed between them, Ellie followed it with an open mouth.

"My mom says I don't know how lucky I am... between the person who invented the kid syringe and the guy who decided to make the stuff taste like strawberries, she says it's too easy to give a screaming baby medicine now. Personally... I'm all for giving them medals!" He placed the syringe into Ellie's mouth and watched as she eagerly swallowed the cool liquid. "There you go, sweetheart," he said, kissing the top of Ellie's head and nestling her close to him.

"I'll uh, I'll go wait in the other room," Pam told him as she hooked her thumb over her shoulder and pointed towards the living room.

"We'll join you," Jim replied, tilting his head towards the door as he began to follow her out. "Hey, don't forget the cake."

"Oh, right." She sighed dramatically for effect while turning around and grabbing the plates before following him into the next room.

Pam got comfortable on the couch and watched as Jim aimlessly walked around the living room with Ellie in his arms. It had taken ten minutes, but she'd eventually calmed down and was pretty much silent now except for the odd hiccup. He tenderly stroked the little girl's back, his large hands engulfing her and making her look almost doll like in his arms. He hummed quietly as he paced the room, smiling apologetically at Pam. "I'm really sorry about this," he whispered. "She'll fall asleep again in a minute."

"Stop apologising."

"Sorry."

Crossing her arms, she gave him what was intended to be a stern look, but she had to take a deep breath to stop herself from laughing. Pulling a strand of hair behind her ear she sighed, "Jim, seriously. Stop saying that word."

Surrendering, he held a hand out in front of himself. "Okay, I think we're good," he said as he shifted Ellie in his arms.

"Uh, Jim."

"Yeah?"

"She isn't asleep. She's looking right at me."

"Are you kidding?" he asked, pulling back slightly to see what she was talking about. Ellie was wide-awake, sucking her fingers, happily snuggled against Jim's chest and looking at Pam with innocent eyes.

"Wow, that stuff usually knocks her out." Giving up, Jim walked towards the couch and plonked himself down next to Pam. As he sat down, Ellie rearranged herself on his lap and sat up slightly so she could see what was going on around her. She looked at Pam and then promptly buried her face in her Daddy's shirt. "She's a bit shy. She's not really been around many people other than my mom and me."

Pam nodded and smiled at the little girl in Jim's arms. "Hi, Ellie."

"She doesn't have her aids in," Jim explained as he lightly tapped Ellie's arm so that she looked up at him. He then pointed at Pam and waved. "Say hello, Ellie." She rested her head back against his chest and removed the hand from her mouth and waved. She then looked at them both and giggled as if she'd just done the funniest thing.

"She's so cute," Pam gushed as she held her finger out to Ellie. Pam gasped as the little girl grabbed hold of it with her own chubby little hand.

Jim pulled Ellie's hand back and wiped it on his shirt before letting her reach for Pam again. "Sorry. I should have done that first."

"Honestly, it's okay," she assured him.

The medicine had obviously worked as Ellie was back to her usual self and clearly not ready to go back to sleep. Jim watched his little girl as she looked at Pam, then at him and back to Pam again. He realised that she must be feeling brave in her Daddy's presence when she leaned over and held her arms out to Pam.

"You wanna go to Pam?" he asked, his fingers moving carefully as he signed. She bobbed her head and was already attempting to crawl off of his lap and over to Pam. "I think someone wants to say hi," he laughed, helping Ellie manoeuvre the small distance between them on the couch, the cushions were not easy terrain for a not-yet-one year old.

"I'm not really very..." she stuttered nervously, "good with kids, they don't usually like me."

Jim reached over and stroked Pam's hand with his finger. "Hey," he said, getting her attention. "Honestly, I don't think you have anything to worry about here, Ellie seems to really like you. She doesn't just go to anyone."

"I guess - it's just that I don't really know what to do with them," she admitted, resting her hand awkwardly on Ellie's back.

"You really don't have to do anything too exciting. Look, she finds pretty much anything funny at the moment," he explained, sticking his tongue out and wiggling his hands about in front of his face. Ellie to threw her head back, letting out the sweetest little giggle. "See?"

"You're so dorky," she teased. "Oh hey, can you teach me how to sign that? That is definitely something she needs to learn as soon as possible." Pam's face lit up as Ellie reached out and ran her hand over the charm of her necklace, enthralled by the pretty colours and the way the light reflected off of the stone. "I think she likes my necklace."

"I can tell. That child is going to cost me a fortune in jewellery when she gets older," he grinned, shaking his head softly as he extended his hands in each direction to demonstrate just how expensive his little girl's future would be.

Placing the thumb of one hand, with her fingers open, up to her forehead, Ellie knocked it lightly against her head several times until Jim responded. "Yes?"

"What did she just say?"

"Daddy," he explained as he tickled the sole of Ellie's foot.

Touching the necklace around Pam's neck once more, Ellie looked over at Jim and waved her hand in front of her face in a half moon shape, eliciting a smile from Jim.

"What?" Pam asked curiously. "What's she saying?"

Jim cleared his throat and ran his hand over his jaw. "She thinks your necklace is pretty." He could feel the blush spreading over his cheeks as he realised that his daughter had beaten him to the compliment. It was daunting how easily that little girl deflated his self-confidence sometimes.

"Really?"

"Yep, really."

"Can you teach me to say thank you?" she asked eagerly.

"Sure. This one's easy. Just imagine you're blowing a kiss... bring your hand up to your mouth, like this," he demonstrated, "and then bring your hand out and away from you."

Pam copied what he was doing and he could tell that she enjoyed learning the small gesture. He was honoured that being able to communicate with Ellie was so important to her. Just thinking about that made him all warm inside.

Once Ellie was bored of the necklace, she offered her blankie to Pam. She then made herself comfortable on Pam's lap, trying to find the best position to rest her head.

"Thank you," Pam smiled once again, using the sign she'd just learned and gently draped the blankie around Ellie's shoulders, placing her in a little cocoon. "She's so cute, Jim."

Jim thanked Pam using the same sign, giving her a wink as he brought his hand away from his face.

Jim loved seeing Ellie wrapped up in Pam's arms. He couldn't help but think that even if nothing came out of this, if they don't work out and take this any further than friendship, that maybe she could still be an important part of Ellie's life. His mom was amazing with her, but he knew how important it was for a girl to have a mother figure in her life. Ellie needed someone she could trust and rely on and... wow wait, what? Did he just think of Pam as a mother figure to his child? He really needed to tell his brain to slow the hell down. He couldn't help but look at the two of them together and not panic that Pam may have all of a sudden developed the skill to read his mind.

"You're a natural," he pointed out, watching Ellie snuggling closer to Pam as she began to get sleepy once again.

She silenced him with her hand before he could continue. "Oh please, I'm really not. I've never been good with kids. I'm an only child; all my cousins are at least five years older than me, so I've always been the baby. I've never even babysat before."

"Well trust me, you are a natural."

Pam looked down at the sleepy little girl in her arms and smiled. Ellie was sucking her thumb, and using the corner of her pink blankie to stroke her face as she sat there quietly fighting to keep her eyes open.

"I'm not, but thank you."

"Are you doubting my powers, Pam?"

"Your powers? Dare I ask what those may be?"

He closed his eyes and sighed, pretending he couldn't believe she had no idea what he was talking about. "It's a special power granted to dads the minute their babies are born. It lets us see who the naturals are and who's just a pretender..."

Pam raised her eyebrows. "A pretender?" She asked sceptically. "I think you're making this up."

Jim held up his hand to quiet her. "Are you really going to argue with me here, Pam? A dad? A man with special super powers?"

She couldn't stop the small laugh from escaping, and brought her hand up quickly to cover her mouth. At the same time they focused their attention on Ellie - both shocked to find her fast asleep.

"I hate to say I told you so... but, I told you so."

"Is she really asleep?" Pam asked.

"No, she's pretending." He teased, " Yes she's really asleep. She's out for the night now, nothing will wake her - I can vacuum her room while she's asleep and it doesn't bother her. I swear, she'd even sleep through an earthquake. Hey, want to help me put her to bed?"

"Sure."

Jim stood up and held out his arms, ready to take Ellie from Pam. "I've got her, it's okay," she told him as she wrapped the blanket more securely around the sleeping child and stood up.

They crept up the stairs quietly and once they were in Ellie's room, Jim scooped her out of Pam's arms and brought her up to his chest. Smoothing down her unruly hair, he placed a kiss on the top of her head and laid her down gently in her crib. He spent a couple of minutes rearranging her bed, tucking her in and making sure she was comfortable. Once he was satisfied that she was okay, he nodded his head towards the door and they left and made their way back towards the living room.

Once they were back on the couch, Jim turned and playfully poked Pam's arm. "So, you definitely can't argue with me about being a natural now, hmm?"

"No, I can't," she laughed, resting her head against the back of the sofa. "But I reserve the right to argue with you next time - magic dad powers or not."

He leaned his head back so that he could see her better "Oh, so they'll be a next time, huh?" He asked her, clearly enjoying the safety net they've created when bantering with each other.

"Of course. How else am I going to learn more sign language?" she replied in a teasing tone.

"Ah, I see how it is, you just want me for my..." He cleared his throat quickly and stopped himself from continuing, too embarrassed at how that sounded.

He could tell Pam knew how uncomfortable he felt, and was grateful when she finally broke the awkward silence between them.

"You know I don't just want you to teach me sign language, right?" she assured him, reaching over and patting his leg.

Jim gulped loudly at the feel of Pam's warm hand on his knee. He laughed silently to himself about how pathetic he was - How could a simple touch turn him on so much?

She glanced over at the clock above his fireplace and groaned. "I should go," she said, pulling on the cardigan she'd taken off earlier on in the evening.

Jim nodded his head and stood reluctantly. "I've had a really nice time this evening," he admitted, shoving his hands deep in to his pockets. He'd noticed he'd been doing this a lot around Pam recently; it was as though his brain didn't trust his hands around Pam.

"Me too."

They made their way into the hall silently and he watched as Pam slid on her on flip-flops and fished her car keys out of her oversized purse.

"So, tonight was fun," she said. "I really enjoyed myself."

"Me too... I'm sorry if..."he motioned toward the stairs, and immediately returned his hand to his pocket, "her waking up made you uncomfortable or anything."

"She didn't make me feel uncomfortable at all. Stop worrying about that, okay, promise me?"

"I promise." He grinned, as he opened the front door.

Pam turned towards him and rested her hand on his shoulder; leaning up on her tiptoes she placed the gentlest of kisses on his cheek. He shivered. It was almost as though a bolt of electricity had been shot through him.

"I'll see you tomorrow," she said. It was obvious that neither of them wanted to break eye contact first.

"'Kay," he mumbled, unable to say anything more - he felt as though she'd paralysed his voice.

She ran her hand down from his shoulder to his hand. She squeezed it quickly before turning and making her way towards her car. "Oh and Jim?"

"Yeah?"

She hesitated for a moment, looking at her shoes before she initiated eye contact with Jim again. She slowly raised her hand to her chin and brought it away from her, utilising the 'thank you' sign she had been taught earlier.

To Be Continued

*****

Please let me know what you thought :)


	8. Sliding Headfirst

I do not own The Office - I wish I did, Jim would be all kinds of naked each week =)

*****

"Come back here, you little monkey." Jim laughed as he chased after Ellie, who was crawling naked across the living room at lighting speed. "Let's put your diaper on at least, 'kay?" Lifting her up into his arms he laid her gently on the floor. "Pam will be here in a minute. You liked her a lot, do you remember Pam?" he asked, as he fastened the diaper securely despite her squirming to get away. As soon as he was done, she hauled herself up onto her hands and knees, lifted her butt into the air and made her way quickly towards the couch. He loved seeing how proud she was of herself each and every time she lifted herself up and stood under her own power, all be it with the aid of the couch. He couldn't wait until she was walking on her own. He loved nothing more than taking her little hands in his and helping her make her way across a room, but to be able to sit down and have Ellie walk towards him all by herself was something he was looking forward to - something her was practically counting down to.

The doorbell rang, and as she always did, Ellie clapped her hands excitedly, wobbling slightly on her feet. Of course, by letting go of the couch, it meant she then fell flat on her butt, laughing on her way down. Jim chuckled at her as he made his way towards the door knowing Ellie was tagging along behind him.

This was her new thing; she would try and follow him everywhere. It wasn't that she'd cry when he left the room, but she was already an extremely inquisitive little girl and wanted to know everything that was going on around her. So her following him to the front door didn't surprise him.

"Hey," he said, welcoming their visitor with a quick hug.

"Hey, yourself," she smiled. "Oh, I'm sorry, I must have missed that memo you sent me this morning."

"What memo?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion and ushering her into the house.

"Well seeing as you're both shirtless, I just assumed you had a theme in mind for our picnic in the park," she smirked. He could tell he was blushing, and Pam was enjoying watching the colour climb up his body and give him a deliciously rosy glow all the way to the tips of his ears.

He'd been so busy getting things organised for their trip, and trying to keep Ellie from getting into everything that he'd completely forgotten he hadn't put his t-shirt on yet.

He cleared his throat, the embarrassment written so plainly on his face. "Oh God, yeah, sorry about that. It's been a crazy morning," he explained, pointing at the mess on the living room floor that Ellie had been slowly creating since she'd woken up.

"Hey, no need to apologise. In fact, I'm enjoying the show, so you just take your time getting ready," she teased, kicking off her keds.

Jim lowered his head, blushing at her not so subtle flirting. "You're too much, Beesly," he chuckled, causing Pam to laugh at his reaction.

"What? It's true!"

He laughed, her eyes telling him she was enjoying herself and the fact that she was so openly flirting with him made him all...tingly... inside.

Ever since their "date" on Wednesday, they'd been taking their lunch outside every day and sitting on the small patch of grass at the back of the building and talking. At one point, they'd shared a dorky little moment where she'd made them shake hands and agree that even though they weren't "officially" dating each other yet, they certainly weren't going to "officially" date anyone else either.

He was fine with the arrangement and he was pretty sure she'd just said it for him. Especially after he'd explained his reasons for wanting to take things slowly, he had Ellie to worry about and she had to come first. He knew he wanted to be with her, he just needed to psyche himself up a little before he took the next step. To know that Pam understood that and had assured him that she was fine to wait until he was ready, just made that tingly feeling appear again.

"My uh, my shirt is in the living room," he mumbled nervously, picking Ellie up from the floor as she attempted to climb his leg. "Hey, Elliecakes, do you remember Pam?" he asked as the little girl in his arms eyed the lady in front of her warily. He could practically see the little clogs turning in Ellie's brain. He instantly knew the moment when she recognised Pam. A gummy smile broke across her face and she waved, before burying her head into his shoulder. "You're not shy," he teased, waving his fingers in front of Ellie's face before bringing them down to her tummy and tickling her.

Pam followed them into the living room and watched as Jim gingerly laid Ellie on the floor in between his stretched out legs and began to get her dressed. "Hey, do you wanna check you like everything I've packed for us to eat?" he suggested, pulling a red and green dress over Ellie's head and pointing to the cool bag in the corner of the room.

"Sure." Walking over, she peered inside the bag. "This all looks really good, especially this weird looking... pureed stuff," she teased, waving the jar of Ellie's lunch in front of her.

"I'll have you know that's a favourite in this house."

"Oh really?" she grinned.

"Yep, it's probably one of the most popular dishes we offer at the moment," he told her, placing Ellie on his lap and began putting on the sandals that matched her dress. "It's called Scrumptious Banana Berry Delight, and the name does not lie." He stopped and stared seriously at Pam. "It is scrumptious and it is delightful and full of banana goodness."

"Please tell me you didn't name it that yourself?" she asked, letting out a delicate snort as she laughed.

"You'd like that wouldn't you? But no, I didn't name it myself. I got it from this little book my mom bought me when Ellie starting eating solids."

"Aww, you have a baby recipe book?"

"Well, I... I guess I do, but its way more macho than a recipe book, Pam, it's called the... Top 100 Baby Purees."

"Oh that does sound way more macho, you're right," she snickered.

"I think Pam is having too much fun mocking your Daddy today, what do you think?" he asked Ellie, his hands carefully signing enough to make Ellie feel involved in what he was saying. Jim helped her stand up by her hands so that she was in front of him, wobbling slightly on her feet. "Well, don't you look pretty?" he said, grinning like a crazy man when Ellie pointed to him and copied the sign for pretty, and then did the same to Pam.

He turned smiling to Pam and caught her blushing, "She just said you're..."

"Pretty? I'm a fast learner."

"You are," he told her, clearing his throat nervously. "So, hey, what do you think? Is this acceptable picnic attire?" he asked, holding Ellie out in front of Pam.

"Oh my, God."

"What?"

"She looks like a watermelon. Jim, that dress is SO cute."

"Yeah, you like it? I saw it the other day and I thought she'd look cute in it. Wanna see something even cuter?"

"Of course."

He reached behind him and pulled over a bag. "Okay, close your eyes."

"No."

"Oh come on. Don't be a party pooper."

"I have to close my eyes? Really?"

"Trust me, you will like this, but you really need to close your eyes to appreciate just how awesome these are."

"Okay." She sighed playfully, closing her eyes tight.

"You can open them now," he said, laughter evident in his voice.

She opened her eyes and smiled instantly when she saw that Jim had placed a matching pair of sunglasses onto Ellie.

"I think this may be the cutest outfit I have ever seen."

"Yeah? I think I made a pretty good choice. You like shopping with Daddy, don't you, Elliecakes? Oh, and they gave me these little clip things to go with her dress," he explained, handing the bag over to Pam. "I have NO idea what to do with them, maybe you would know - being a girl and all."

"Why, yes, I am a girl, Jim. I'm glad you noticed," she smirked, attempting to open the little plastic bag the hairclips were sealed in.

"Hey, you're not the only fast learner in this room."

She poked her tongue out at him, before using her teeth to rip open the plastic.

"So, are you gonna teach me how to do her hair?"

"Sure. Oh these are adorable," she cooed, twirling the matching watermelon clips between her fingers. "All you do is slide them in and they'll snap closed."

Jim bit his bottom lip and looked at her, a confused expression on his face. "Okay, but I don't know where to put them, and I don't want to ruin my child's street cred just yet, you know?"

"Want me to show you?"

"Yes please."

Pam sat on the floor next to Jim and held her arms out to Ellie. "Do you think she'll come to...?" She hadn't even finished the question before Ellie had climbed into her lap and made herself comfortable, seeing the colourful clips in Pam's hands she tried to reach for them. "Okay, it's really easy. You watching?" she asked, gathering a little tuft of Ellie's hair, sliding the clip into place, and popping it shut. "See? Easy. Want to try?"

"No, I think I'm good. It looks too cute for me to mess it up." He held his arms out, expecting Ellie to crawl over to him, but she was much more interested in playing with the curls hanging loosely by Pam's shoulders. And there was that tingly feeling back again, just from looking at Ellie so content in Pam's arms. Today was going to be awesome.

"Okay, fine. Be like that, Daddy doesn't care," Jim teased as he reached over and pinched Ellie's nose. "Are you alright holding her while I pack the car up?"  
Pam nodded as she felt Ellie's little hands move to rest on her cheeks. "Yeah, I think I'll be ok. Hurry up though, I'm hungry."

*  
Once they got to the park, they walked around for a while until they found somewhere relatively quiet to sit. Jim shook out a blanket he'd brought with and placed it on the grass, and Pam began unloading their food. "Hey, what's this?" Pam asked shaking a Tupperware container in front of her face, trying to identify what was inside.

"Oh, those will be cold homemade French fries," he explained, throwing Ellie's Bumbo seat on the blanket and unbuckling her from her stroller.

"That sounds... disgusting."

Placing Ellie on to the blanket, he watched with amusement as she tried to manoeuvre herself off of the floor and into her little seat by herself. "I know, but she loves them," he grinned, pouring some sunscreen onto his hands and rubbing it evenly all over Ellie and himself.

Pam brought her hand up to her mouth and laughed.

"What's so funny?" he asked, rubbing his hand over the base of his neck making sure the cream was all rubbed in.

Leaning over to read the bottle in his hands, she continued to laugh. "I find it amusing that you've just covered yourself in 'Huggies Little Swimmers Moisturizing Sunscreen,' that's all."

"I'll have you know I have very delicate skin, Pam. This leaves me lovely and soft..." He explained, trying desperately not to laugh. "Anyway, you're just jealous."

Reaching for a bottle of water from the cooler she grinned, "I'm jealous? Of what exactly?"

He thrust his arm under her nose.

"Why am I smelling you?"

"To show you how awesome I smell when I use this stuff. Smell me," he insisted. "See? I smell like coconut and mango."

"Mmm, you do smell good."

He could feel her breath on his arm and it was driving him nuts. Her lips were practically touching his skin and he wouldn't be surprised if his brain short-circuited at that moment. What the hell was he thinking?

It was at that moment that Ellie decided to let Jim know she was hungry and had seen the fries sitting in the little box on the blanket. She pointed to the fries and then brought her hand up to her mouth repeatedly; her fingertips touched her thumb and tapped her lips to illustrate placing food into her mouth.

"You want some lunch?" he asked, waving the box in front of her and then pulling it away quickly. "You can't have any of these, these are Daddy's." He loved teasing Ellie like that. She was leaning towards him laughing and sticking her tongue out, rubbing her chest in circular motions.

"What's she saying?" Pam asked.

Jim opened the box and bit off both ends of a fry before handing it to Ellie. "She's saying please," he grinned proudly, placing a quick kiss on her forehead. "Good girl."

"Aww. Is that yummy?" Pam asked, rubbing her stomach. "Can she hear me?"

"Yeah, she has her aids in so she can hear us," he explained, offering Pam some potato salad. "It's nowhere near perfect, but it's something. The doctors recommended that I try and sign as much as possible while she's young, so she can learn it and use it whenever she needs when she's older."

"That makes sense."

"Yeah, and it's worked out pretty well for us. I'm really proud of how well she's picked it up, you know?"

Ellie reached her arm out and offered Pam some of her chewed up soggy French fry.

"I don't think she wants your fry, baby," Jim laughed, watching as Pam shook her head. Ellie then turned and offered it to Jim, baffled as to why no one wanted to share her lunch. He leaned forward and opened his mouth, accepting the present from Ellie, which was now not only mushy, but also completely squashed.

Pam wrinkled her nose. "Now that's love."

"Now you can never doubt my bravery - soggy, smushed fries is the deciding factor in brave daddy-ness," he grinned as he shovelled some salad onto his plate and dug in. They ate in a comfortable silence for a few moments, both content to sit and watch Ellie.

Pam was first to break the silence. "So, tell me something really random about yourself."

"Hmm," he thought aloud, licking his fork. "I have been the commissioner of a Fantasy Football league for the past ten years."

Throwing her head back, she struggled to control the laughing fit she was about to have. "Oh my God. You're such a dork."

Feigning offence, Jim crossed his arms. "Hey! Only people who have no idea about fantasy football say that. This is a serious sport, Pam."

"Oh, I'm sure it is, and I'm sure you're great at it."

"You're mocking me, Pam and I have to say I do not appreciate that. I am awesome and I kick everyone's ass in fantasy football."

"Okay, okay. I take it back," she said, shaking her head. "You're not a dork."

"You're just saying that to make me feel better aren't you?" he asked, biting off the ends of some more fries for Ellie.

Shaking her head she smiled slightly. "No, of course I'm not... Okay, yeah I am."

"Thanks. In that case, I do believe I get a 'mock Pam for free' token now, so come on. It's your turn. Time to tell me something random."

She scrunched up her nose and sighed dramatically, grinning playfully before she continued. "Okay. So before you picked me up, I was watching T.V and a Six Flags commercial came on."

"Okaaay."

"And that old guy was dancing, please tell me you know what I'm talking about?" she asked, almost desperate, hoping she hadn't embarrassed herself.

"I know exactly what you're talking about, I just have absolutely no idea where you're going with this."

"God, I hate him! Urgh! He's so annoying and I just don't see the POINT of him! He's just so creepy! I hate that freaking commercial SO much."

He brought a hand up and rested it gently on her shoulder. "Don't hold back, Pam. Tell me how you really feel," he replied sarcastically. "Now who's the dork?" He asked, handing Ellie her sippy cup.

She rested her hand on her chest as though she was communicating that her heart was broken. "Hey, be nice. I just shared one of my deepest darkest secrets with you."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Was that what that was?"

Reaching over she pinched his arm mischievously. "Yeah, that was hard for me."

"That's what she..."

"Don't say it Jim. I beg you. Do not say it," she warned light-heartedly.

"Sorry, it just slipped out..."

"Stop it," she laughed. "You're being a dork."

"Oh, come on. You know you want to say it." He smirked; his face was beginning to ache from smiling so much.

She stretched her legs out in front of her and lent back. "Fine. That's what she said. Are you happy now?"

"Yes I do believe I am."

"You are so weird."

"Why, thank you, Ma'am!"

They were silent for a moment, both unable to take their eyes off of each other. Neither of them wanted to be the first to look away.

The moment was broken when Ellie climbed into his lap and began to play with his nose. "Wanna come play on the swings with us?" he asked, scooping a giggling Ellie into his arms.

"Sure," she smiled warmly, standing up and following them to the playground.

He placed Ellie in the swing and gently began to push her. Each time the swing brought her forwards she squealed, clapping her hands and banging her fingertips together.

"She's telling me she wants more," he explained, mimicking Ellie's request and nodding his head to let her know he understood what she meant.

"Do you guys come here a lot?" Pam asked, taking a seat on one of the more grown up swings next to them and began pushing herself slowly.

He stepped behind Pam, pulling her back and then letting her go with a hearty push. "Yeah. If the weather's good, I like to bring her every weekend... hold on, tight," he warned, pushing her higher.

He spent the next ten minutes alternating between pushing Ellie and Pam on the swings.

"Okay, I think we're done. My arms hurt," he groaned, rubbing his biceps and lifting Ellie out of the chair.

"Does Ellie like the slide?"

"Hmm?" he asked, too busy blowing raspberries on to Ellie's cheeks to have heard what she said.

"I asked if Ellie liked the slide."

"Oh, I don't know. She's never been on one."

"Are you kidding me?"

He shook his head. "No, she's not old enough to go on one on her own and it's not like I can take her. I'm too tall."

"Awww, Jim. That's so sad. You're depriving her. Do you think she'll go on one with me?"

"I don't see why not. Go on, you climb up and I'll hand her to you when you're ready."

He watched as Pam made her way up to the top of the slide - his eyes lingering on her butt as she climbed the ladder. How had he never noticed her ass before? He'd seen it of course, but he'd never really seen it. And now he couldn't stop looking at it. It was like some magnetic force was forcing him to look - okay, that was a little dramatic, but he really was finding it impossible not to look. He felt a twinge of guilt; here he was at the park with his little girl, and he couldn't stop ogling some woman's backside. Okay, so it wasn't some woman, it was Pam, but still, wasn't there some sort of law against this sort of thing while your kid was around?

"Hey. Earth to Jim."

"Hmm?" he said, looking up so that he could see Pam more clearly.

"You okay?" she asked, concern lining her face. "I lost you for a minute there."

"Sorry, I was just thinking," he said, hoping she didn't press him any further. "You ready to take her?" He asked, lifting Ellie up into the air.

"Sure," she said, smiling softly at Jim as she held out her arms, and made faces at Ellie.

Once he was sure Ellie was safely in Pam's arms, he walked around to the bottom of the slide so he could see them come down. He watched in awe as Pam attempted to communicate with Ellie, and the way she carefully manoeuvred them both at the top of the slide. It amused him on numerous occasions where Pam had insisted that kids didn't seem to warm to her, or that she wasn't any good with them. It was clear from watching her with Ellie that she was a natural.

"Are you ready, Daddy?" Pam asked, wrapping her arms securely around Ellie.

Jim walked to the bottom of the slide and waved. "Ready."

He always teased his mom when she told him that the sound of your child having fun is like music to your ears, and listening to Ellie giggling hysterically as she came down the slide - he knew exactly what his mom meant. He couldn't deny that it felt strange watching Ellie enjoying herself with someone else, but he could already see how much she was benefiting from interacting with someone other than him and his mom.

He laughed heartily as he watched them make their way down the slide. "Did you like that, baby?" He asked, taking Ellie from Pam's arms and kissing her cheek.

The little girl smiled and rubbed at her eyes.

Yeah, it's been a long day, huh? You ready to go sleepsies?" he asked, spreading his fingers in front of his face. He then brought his hand down, closing his fingers together, and dropped his head, closing his eyes for added effect.

Ellie shook her head and leaned back in his arms, letting out a cry, a sign that she was clearly over tired and cranky.

He placed his hand behind Ellie's head and brought it to rest on his chest. "Hey, shh, come on, Sweetheart. It's time for boe-boes."

"Boe-boes?" Pam asked, trying to hide the laughter in her voice.

Looking up, he grinned. "It means nap time."

"I know what it means," she said smiling, "but where did boe-boes come from?"

He carefully manoeuvred Ellie, rocking her gently to try and get her to fall asleep in his arms as he made his way back over to their blanket. "It's what my Mom used to say to us when we were little. It just stuck with me I guess."

"Aww that's really cute. My mom used to call it sleepy time," she told him, reaching out to stroke Ellie's hair.

"Wow, that's original," he teased, as he sat down, and rearranged Ellie so that her face was nestled into the crook of his neck. "100 points to Mrs. Beesly for her creativity."

"Shut up," she laughed, leaning back on her hands.

He wasn't looking at her; his attention was focused solely on the child sleeping soundly in his arms. He sensed Pam closely watching him, and he looked up, smiling briefly in response. The sheer intensity of her stare sent his body in to overdrive, causing goose bumps to appear all over his skin. They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, taking in the sights and sounds around them, Jim gently rocking Ellie in his arms. Even though the park was fairly quiet, there were still people around and they'd discovered pretty early on in their friendship that they both shared a passion for people watching. During the week, they'd grab lunch, and would sometimes just sit in his car and watch the world go by. That was something he loved about Pam, the fact that they could sit there in silence and it wouldn't be awkward. He'd never really experienced that with anyone before and it was strangely comforting. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Pam moving things around on the blanket.

"Hey." He said quietly, rubbing his cheek softly against the top of Ellie's head. "What you doing?"

Pam blushed furiously, and was unable to look him in the eye. "I uh, I just thought you might want to lay her down or something. I wasn't sure if the stroller would be comfortable enough, it probably is though right?" she rambled nervously, pointing to the makeshift bed she'd created out of their jackets and sweaters for Ellie on the blanket.

He couldn't get over how amazing she was. The fact that she just made a bed out of their sweaters so that Ellie wouldn't be uncomfortable just stunned him. It was just so - so thoughtful and something only Pam would do. Once again he got that funny feeling in his stomach which had become a pretty regular occurrence ever since he'd started hanging out with Pam. "This," he said, laying Ellie down, "was an awesome idea, Pam. I know I can't speak from experience, but this definitely looks more comfortable than her stroller."

"Yeah? You think it's okay? Do you think she has enough underneath her? Here, she can have my cardigan too..." she began, managing to get one arm out of her sweater before Jim stopped her.

"Hey, put that back on. You're going to get cold." He warned, running his finger gently down Ellie's face. "She looks pretty comfortable, don't you think?"

Pam grinned and crawled over so that she was kneeling next to the sleeping child. "Yeah she does."

"Thanks for this."

"Hey, it's no problem. I just didn't think she'd want to sleep in her..."

"I didn't mean that." He admitted quietly. Leaning down and kissing Ellie's forehead, pausing briefly before Looking up. "You don't mind her tagging along with us and I'm... I'm just really grateful for that."

"Pam licked her lips before she spoke. "I like hanging out with you both."

If this were anybody else he'd think they were just trying to be polite, but he could hear the honesty in Pam's voice, she accepted that Jim came as a package with Ellie and yet she still wanted to be with him. It was at that moment Jim realised that if he didn't kiss her then and there, he would, quite possibly die on the spot. So faced with the choice of 'kiss' or 'die', he smiled and leaned in slowly, giving her plenty of warning to his intention. He gave a mental dance when he realised that she was meeting him in the middle and when he felt her breath on his lips, he knew that this was really going to happen - finally. When his lips felt their first touch of Pam's, he gave up thinking at all and just gloried in the softness of her. The smell of her. The taste of her. The need to just - nibble at her bottom lip was too much that he couldn't deny himself.

As naturally as the kiss began, it ended. Gentle, soft and oh so amazing that Jim couldn't quite force his eyes to open for a few seconds. But the smile on his recently kissed lips said it all. "Hey!!! Watch out!!"

They both quickly jumped apart, Jim just barely catching a football that was flying towards them.

He threw the ball back towards the group of boys almost violently; clearing his throat he looked up and met Pam's eyes. They smiled shyly at one and other, before he found his voice.

"We uh, we should probably go," he stuttered.

Brushing a piece of hair behind her ear, she nodded eagerly. "Okay," she agreed, biting her lip to try and hide the smile spreading across her face.

To Be Continued

******  
Sorry it's taken me so long to get this chapter up - I hope it was worth waiting for. So, as usual I'd love to know your thoughts on everything so far, so please review, it means a lot!!!!! I have so much planned for the next couple of chapters. I just wish I could write them faster.


	9. Warm Fuzzies

*****

Shuffling a sleeping Ellie in his arms, Jim tried desperately to locate the key to the front door. _Why the hell are there so many damn keys on the key chain anyway?_ _It's not like I even know what most of them unlock__._

Pam shook her head, laughing quietly. She removed the keys from his hands and selected the correct one, holding it up proudly. "Ta-da!" she grinned.

Rolling his eyes, he moved to the side, allowing Pam to walk in first. "I'm just going to put her down. I'll be right back," he explained, nodding his head towards the stairs. "Help yourself to a beer or something…oh! I have Hot Pockets in the freezer if you're hungry."

"Thanks," she said, rubbing her hand eagerly over her stomach. "Heat and eat… now that sounds like my kind of snack."

"What can I say, Pam? I like to get things done quickly."

The comment hung in the air for a moment, causing some awkwardness from the unintentional innuendo.

"Uh..." he stuttered, his cheeks reddening. "I'll uh, I'll be back downstairs in a minute." With that, he was off; taking the stairs two at a time in an obvious bid to get away from the embarrassing situation he now found himself in.

"Okay," Pam chuckled lightly, an identical blush forming on her own face.

Spinning around, she kicked off her shoes and wandered into the kitchen, her bare feet sticking to the cool tiled floor as she made her way to the freezer in search of food.

She meandered over to the refrigerator, pausing suddenly at the sight of a smiling Jim and Ellie at Hershey's Chocolate Factory. The photo, only a couple of months old, showed a chocolate-covered Ellie sitting happily in Jim's arms. A paper hat (clearly meant for the children on the tour) with the words "Hershey's Factory Worker" written across the top was perched on Jim's head, and a tiny chocolate handprint covered his cheek. She grinned, opening the refrigerator to retrieve two beers. She eyed the picture again as the door closed, a smile still on her face as she turned to set the beers on the counter. Jim walked in just as the timer went off, indicating that their food was ready.

"Mmm, microwavable goodness," he smiled, inhaling deeply.

"I know, right?" Pam grinned, handing him his Hot Pocket, which she'd wrapped carefully in a paper towel. "God, this is so good. I didn't realise how hungry I was," she sighed, sneaking her tongue out to wipe away at a stray piece of cheese that had escaped and was now dangling from her chin. "What?" she asked, noticing his eyes on her. "Do I still have cheese on my face or something?"

"You've still got a bit of uh… just come here," he chuckled, beckoning her over with his hand. He bit his lip as he lightly ran his thumb along the bottom of her chin, gently removing the piece of cheese. "Here," he muttered, exhaling deeply through his nose to avoid audibly sighing from the shaky breath he was holding

"Thanks," she replied sheepishly.

Clearing his throat awkwardly, he hooked his thumb over his shoulder. "I, um.... I think I just heard…I'm just going to go check on Ellie real quick." He rushed through the sentence, his words clustering together as he rambled, his face red. "There's uh...there's other drinks in the refrigerator...help yourself, make yourself comfortable. I'll, um, I'll be back...in a…minute..." he stuttered, exiting the room as quickly as he could.

"Oh, uh, okay..." she stammered nervously, aware that he'd only just put Ellie down a few moments ago and there was really no reason for him to go and check on her so soon.

When Jim came back downstairs, he noticed that Pam had turned on the T.V in the living room and had exchanged their beers for a bottle of wine, pouring each of them a glass. She was sitting idly, tapping her foot to the theme song of a show he knew was popular, but never really had the time to watch.

"Hey," he murmured as he sat himself down beside her. "She's sound asleep. I think we tired her out today...Oh, and thanks for the wine."

He watched her mouth curve into that beautiful half smile, half nervous twitch that he was becoming so fond of. "I thought, urm… since Ellie's asleep, the wine seemed a little more… grown up? Not that I don't love spending time with Ellie, or think that we should have…or need…"

Jim interrupted her rambling, as cute as it was, with a laugh. "You don't need to explain," he sighed. "Sometimes 'grown up' time is the only thing that keeps me sane." He paused. "And believe me, I love my daughter, but there is only so much baby talk you can take before your brain turns to Jello."

She licked her lips, unable to stop the mischievous smile that was slowly appearing across her face. "Well, I hate to break it to you Jim…"

"Thanks, Beesly, you _really_ know how to make a guy feel good about himself!" he laughed, reaching his finger across and prodding her side.

"Eh, I try."

"Well, since my ego has been thoroughly checked, how about you make up for that and tell me what your favourite part of the day has been?"

Jim watched as her brow furrowed in thought, and he found himself wanting nothing more than to kiss away the little crease that appeared between her eyebrows and then make his way down to where she was lightly biting on her lower lip.

"I think, the best part of today, was… maybe… all of it," she decided, nodding her head enthusiastically.

"Oh really? There wasn't one particular moment that stood out?" he teased as the blush crept into her cheeks.

"Well, I guess there was one moment that I wouldn't mind repeating again. Just to be sure."

Jim couldn't look away from her eyes. The honesty shining through blew him away. He didn't think he'd ever find this, this genuine enjoyment of both him and his daughter, and a total acceptance of them both. At that moment, he knew he only had one course of action.

Gently, he took her glass from her hand and placed it on the coffee table before inching himself closer to her and taking her face in his hands. Her eyes smiled at him as she subconsciously licked her lips. Slowly, he lowered his mouth to hers, feeling their breaths mingle and dance together, savoring the moment until he couldn't wait another second, and he lowered his head completely to hers.

For a first _real_ kiss, he had to say, it was pretty damn mind-blowing. Not that it was demanding or hard, no; its sheer ease and softness drove him wild. Her taste, her touch as she threaded her hands around his neck pulling gently at the soft tuft of hair at the nape, her giving back everything in equal measure.

He knew he was totally lost in the kiss when his hands began wandering totally on their own. Her sigh of enjoyment clued him into the fact that she was more than happy as his hands shaped her breasts and his thumbs played over the hardness of her nipples, begging not to be ignored.

She seemed to be lost in the moment as well, driving him blissfully insane as her hands pulled up his shirt and slid underneath, on a mission to discover every single inch of his skin. After several moments of pulling and tugging, which he was fairly sure was all Pam - although he couldn't be certain that he hadn't helped, they were more or less horizontal on the couch, which he discovered was _much_ better, because so much more of her touched so much more of him.

His shirt became a casualty of her impatience as he heard a seam tear when she dragged it up and over his head… not that he cared. By that time he'd worked enough buttons to get his first clear look at her breasts… to say he was uncaring of anything else at that moment wouldn't be too far from the truth.

There was a moment then, when all movement stopped and the only sound was their labored breathing as they caught each others gaze while his thumb gently traced back and forth across her kiss-swollen lips and he knew, deep in every part of his being, that she was the one. This was it for him. He also knew that she could read him in that moment better than anyone before and one glimpse at her easy expression and gentle nod of her head told him she was right there with him as he dropped his head and tasted those rose pink nipples he'd been aching for. The arch of her back and quickening of her breath nearly short-circuited his brain as her fingers latched onto his hair and held him tight.

He could've, and would've, stayed in that spot forever, especially when they both started to move against each other in a natural longing of what they needed next. But it was that very movement, tormenting, yet wonderful, that woke him up from his Pam-induced stupor. This was everything, he realised, and everything had to be done right, not on a couch with his daughter sleeping upstairs.

He allowed himself one more caress and one more kiss before forcing his sluggish body to move back from her, just enough to let some oxygen flow back to his brain, but not enough to lose contact with her body completely because that would be just too impossible to accomplish right now.

"What?" she asked breathlessly.

Her confusion, and a flicker of hurt, was evident, and he gently kissed her as a reassurance. "God, Pam, you're amazing. Really amazing," he told her honestly.

"Then… urm… why stop now?" she asked him through her swollen lips.

"Nothing's the matter…" he tried assuring her, "but I want to do this right...you deserve that."

"Seems to me you were doing _everything_ correctly, so I suggest you come back here and keep going!" she smiled shyly, but with a hint of naughtiness in her eyes.

He couldn't stop the laughter from bubbling up. Her face was a picture of teasing petulance and so of course, he kissed her again.

When he came up for air, he smiled into her eyes.

"It's just," he paused briefly. "Ellie's asleep upstairs and she could interrupt us at any minute, this isn't... this isn't how I wanted it...I want it to be special, you _deserve_ for this to be special."

Jim took a breath and realised that Pam's eyes had started to shine with a wetness that wasn't there moments ago.

"Pam?" he asked, worried he'd upset her and that she thought he was turning her down. "Hey, come on, I want you, you _know_ that, you can feel _that_…" he smiled, grinding softly against her. "It's just… I want this to perfect."

She kissed him before he could finish, obviously employing the same tactics as _he_ had before. When she pulled away, she lazily traced his lips, his mouth gently kissing each and every finger. "I think I'm falling in love with you…" he whispered, moving his face slightly so that her hand caressed his cheek, placing a warm kiss onto her palm.

"Me too," she replied softly, so softly he almost didn't hear her. He closed his eyes for a moment, bringing his forehead down to rest against hers. "With you!" she exclaimed suddenly. "I meant with you...not with me..." she cringed, the words pouring out of her mouth faster than she could stop them. He smirked, and Pam erupted into a fit of giggles. "I'm not falling in love with myself!"

Chuckling quietly he placed a tender kiss on the tip of her nose, "Yeah, I kinda got that."

"Shut up," she laughed, letting her hand wander purposefully over his leg and then upwards, just enough that he stopped talking - and smirking - and sucked in a breath, unsure of her destination. She clearly liked him like that, slightly disoriented and more than a little turned on. So with evilness he never really knew she had in her, he soon realised that she was going to leave him in that state. He wasn't surprised.

"So, Saturday."

"Huh?"

His brain had apparently short-circuited somewhere in the last few minutes, as he had no clue what she was talking about.

"Ellie's birthday party?" he asked dumbly.

He hoped that she would take pity on his oxygen-deprived brain. "I meant _after_ Ellie's birthday party." Her eyes sparkled with excitement. "Saturday night…You. Me. My house," she paused, bringing her arms out in front of her. "Big bed."

Jim grinned.

"No interruptions. Saturday." Right then and there, he didn't know who was wearing the biggest smile or whose eyes were shining the brightest as she continued. "Just so you know…it'll be a sacrifice to put up with _just _you and you alone."

"Oh, really?" he chuckled… "I can bring Ellie with me if you want."

"No, no. I'm afraid we're going to be having ourselves a little _adults-only_ party that evening."

He rolled his eyes. "Damnit…"

"I know, right? I can see the disappointment in your eyes," she teased.

"Somehow, I think I'll get over it," he grinned. "So, dinner on Saturday…want me to call ahead and see if Cugino's serves an Italian Hot Pocket?"

"Oh!" she exclaimed excitedly, raking her nails gently down the side of his body, which was still leaning heavily on top of her. "You know what's really good? Those meatball Hot Pockets."

"I'm sensing this isn't a Cugino's special," he teased.

"Nope, it's more of a Wegman's thing."

"Ah, I see. Well, I can always smuggle some into the restaurant with me. I know you, Beesly - you like to heat and eat. You're very impatient."

"Dork," she said, openly laughing at him now, the laughter carrying on as they put on and adjusted their previously discarded clothing, although in his case his undershirt had to do as he was now missing several buttons off his shirt – a point that made her blush adorably and gave him a chance to laugh at her.

"It's getting late…I should… I should probably go," she said, as her eyes involuntarily scanned him up and down.

"Okay, seriously," Jim chuckled, his face flushing slightly. "If you keep looking at me like that, I am not going to be able to _let _you leave."

Pam giggled as she eased herself up off the couch. "So, today has been fun," she pretended to casually joke.

"It has," he agreed quietly.

He couldn't remember the last time he'd had such a good time. If he was being honest with himself, he'd not had this much fun in years. Things hadn't been right between him and Chloe for so long, he'd more or less forgotten what it was like to enjoy himself, especially with a woman he was slowly but surely falling in love with. The more he thought about it, the more he didn't want this evening to end, but he knew it had to. It was important to take things slowly with Pam, he knew that – his heart knew it, his brain knew it; biologically… he wasn't there.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked as she brushed a curl behind her ear. It was a nervous habit that he'd become particularly familiar with lately, and something he'd desperately wanted to be able to do for her for so long.

"Yes, you'll see me tomorrow."

"At work?"

"Yes, you'll see me at work..." he stopped, noticing Pam biting on her lip.

"What?" she asked, looking up when he'd stopped talking.

"You're really cute when you're nervous."

She glanced down anxiously, forcing herself to mask the warm smile peeking out from behind her lips.

"I should really get going."

"Okay."

Walking out into the hall, she slipped on her shoes. "I really had a great time today," she smiled in a way he knew was sincere.

"Yeah?" He couldn't stop the grin from breaking over his lips.

"Yeah," nodding bashfully she gestured to the door behind her. "So, urm. I'm gonna go."

Jim gently pulled her towards him. "Okay… wait." Bringing his head down he kissed her lightly, or at least that was his intention until his lips actually made contact with hers. He just couldn't stop himself from nibbling just a little.

It was only the sensation of her hands on his chest and the gentle push from those hands that pulled him back from the nibbling. And the sucking.

Pulling back, Pam reached up onto her tiptoes, placing a tender kiss on his cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow," he replied. And with that, she turned around and made her way to her car.

Jim stood, leaning against the door frame and watched her car drive away. He couldn't help the slow grin that swept over his face, nor could he help the warm fuzzy feeling that settled in his chest. If anyone asked him, he'd deny the latter until his dying day. Unless it was Pam asking. He didn't mind admitting his warm fuzzies to her. He didn't mind at all.

To Be Continued

*****

AN: Sorry this has taken me so long to update. I would have had this up sooner, but I decided to completely re write what I had written… as well as start work on two standalones… I hope you're all still with me and still enjoying this. Please review and let me know what you think. I really means a lot to me. Apologies for the lack of Ellie in this chapter. Do not fear, she'll be in the next one!!


	10. The Icing On The Cake

The Icing On The Cake

Jim had only been home from work for a little over an hour, and he was exhausted. Ellie, however, was full of energy. Despite the fact that he was ready to fall asleep at any moment, he couldn't help but smile at the sight of Ellie standing patiently next to him, leaning on the bath as she waited for it to fill with warm, bubbly water. This was the routine, a night time plan he'd developed one night when Ellie was still the length of his arm. He'd spent hours upon hours on the Internet researching how to be a good dad, no, the _best_ dad. All that searching and reading had led him to formulate a bedtime routine. Baths gave them time to bond, and watching her watch him make the bubbles never failed to become the highlight of his evening. He'd learned to wrap up their night together with a baby massage, something the hospital had strongly encouraged him to do after Ellie's birth. The nurses had explained to him how great they were for preemies and anything that was great for Ellie was great for him.

"Ba ba ba." Ellie clapped excitedly as the tub filled with water.

Jim rubbed his fists lightly against her chest in a circular motion as if he was washing her body.

"You love bath time, huh, Elliecakes?"

Eager to get in and play, she threw her head back against his chest and kicked her feet impatiently against the floor. He removed her diaper and carefully popped out her hearing aids before placing her into the soapy water.

Jim tapped Ellie's nose, trying to grab her attention, waving her pink rubber duck in the air. "Look who wants to join you, Ellie! It's Duckyduck," he told her, throwing the plastic toy into the water. Immediately Ellie picked it up and brought it to her mouth, gnawing the plastic eagerly. The poor duck was her new favourite chew toy.

Rummaging through the little box he kept by the bath, he selected an old squeeze bottle. "How about this? You wanna play with this?" Dipping the bottle into the water, he squeezed it carefully, filling it up completely before gently pouring it into her hand. He grinned at her reaction to the sensation of the water filling her open hand.

"You like that, huh?" He was painfully aware that Ellie couldn't hear him, but when she was watching him so intently, like she was doing at that moment, Jim could swear her little mind understood everything he said. He tilted the bottle slightly, and then covered the hole at the top with his other hand, stopping the water from escaping. "Look what happens when Daddy does this."

She giggled, looking up at him with wide eyes as though he'd just performed the world's most spectacular magic trick.

"Here, give Daddy your hand and you can do it yourself." He helped place her small hand over the hole and let go, watching as she stopped and started the water all by herself.

"Clever girl."

Holding on to the side of the tub, Ellie hauled herself up. Her chubby little legs splashed around as she bounced excitedly up and down, shrieking with delight as she created mini tidal waves with each swift movement of her feet. Her hands never left Jim's, holding on to him as if her life depended on it.

"You having fun there, splashy?" Jim chuckled, enjoying the look of pure contentment on his daughter's face. She'd always loved the bath, but recently she'd not been satisfied with just sitting there and being washed. She liked to stand up and touch everything in sight, tug relentlessly at the shower curtain, grab daddy's hair, or eat ridiculous amounts of bubbles.

Letting go of her hands, he placed them carefully onto the cool porcelain. Taking two of his fingers from each hand he crossed them over each other. "Can you sit down for Daddy?"

She continued bouncing, and Jim repeated the sign he'd done just moments ago before rapping the bottom of the tub. "Sit down, missy."

Ellie's little face flushed from the warm bathroom, reaching out for his hands she sat down, laughing at the sensation her butt made when it hit the water.

"We need to wash your hair, don't we pumpkin?" he sighed, reaching for the baby shampoo. This was the one part of bath time he loathed. He didn't care that the bottle promised _no more tears_, Ellie always cried; she didn't like the feel of the water being poured over her head. Realistically he knew he wasn't hurting her, the soap wouldn't have stung even if it _had_ gone in her eyes, but he felt guilty nonetheless.

"Shhh. Daddy's sorry" he apologized, once he'd finished rinsing her hair. "Let's get you out and into your nice warm pajamas, huh?"

Wrapping her up in her pink fluffy hooded towel, he rubbed her back soothingly as he made his way toward her bedroom. Her tears finally subsided, and were slowly turning into little squeaky hiccups.

Laying her gently on the changing table, he re-diapered her and began dressing her in her pyjamas. He'd finally managed to get both her legs into her sleeper suit just before the doorbell interrupted them. He scooped her up, tucking her blanket around her to keep her warm.

He hurried down the stairs, pulling open the front door. "Oh!" he exclaimed in surprise, as he saw a casually dressed Pam stood before him in the doorway. "Hey!"

Pam looked at him, eyebrows furrowed in sudden confusion as she awkwardly fingered the strap of the purse dangling from her shoulder. "Did you...not mean for me to come over tonight?"

"Oh God, yeah!" Jim quickly answered, stepping back to let her enter. "I'm so sorry! I just didn't realize the time."

"Are you sure?" She bit her lip. "I'm really sorry I'm so early," she said apologetically, a half-dressed Ellie peering up at her from Jim's arms.

"Honestly, it's fine," he smiled warmly, wanting to make her feel more comfortable. He couldn't name the feeling, but something inside him shifted a little at the sight of Pam feeling so out of place. She _wasn't_ out of place, and he needed her to know that He wanted her there, they _both _wanted her there. "We'd finished bath time anyway." He smiled again. "Look who it is, Ellie," he grinned down at his daughter. "Can you say _hi_ to Pam?" He waved his own hand for emphasis, trying to get Ellie to copy him. When she did, Pam's face lit up. _That's more like it_, he thought to himself.

"Aw, hi, Ellie."

Jim chuckled at the way Ellie was still waving at Pam, clearly loving the attention and reaction she got from it. It suddenly occurred to him, though, that he'd forgotten something pretty important. "Hey, do you mind holding her for a second?" he asked Pam. "I left her aids upstairs."

She raised her eyebrows at him and bit her lip nervously, just as she had the moment she'd walked in. "Um..."

"You'll be fine," he laughed. "I'll only be a second." He handed Ellie over, not waiting for an answer. "Here, take her." He smiled encouragingly. "I'll meet you in the living room."

"Okay."

True to his word, Jim was only gone a minute. As he approached the living room, he noticed that Pam had taken it upon herself to finish buttoning Ellie's pajamas. _Why couldn't she see how great she was?_ Their foreheads were pressed lightly together as Pam listened intently to Ellie babbling away happily on her lap. He couldn't understand why Pam was so nervous around children; she was a natural. He stood in the entryway a moment longer, smiling to himself at the sight of his two favourite girls enjoying each other's company. That warm fuzzy feeling in his stomach returned.

Pam nodded her head teasingly, clearly amused by her gurgling. "Mmmhmmm, really?" she grinned. "That's very interesting, Ellie. Thank you for telling me."

"Don't listen to anything she says, Pam. It's all lies," he sighed mock-dramatically, moving across the room to sit down next to them on the couch. He rubbed his index finger down Ellie's rosy cheek for a moment as she animatedly continued her "speech." He smiled. This was so perfect.

He reached down for the batteries he'd brought downstairs along with her hearing aids and began replacing them.

"Jim, what does that mean?" Pam asked suddenly, turning to him.

"Hmm?"

"I'm not sure, but I think she just signed something."

"Yeah? What did it look like?" he asked, head down, concentrating intently on the aids' fiddly battery port.

"She kind of… Wait, you're going to have to look at me so I can show you." She told him, nudging him slightly.

Jim looked up from what he was doing and smiled. "Okay, go."

"Okay, so, she kind of took her hand, and covered half of her cheek," she explained, moving her hand up to demonstrate. "And then she moved it a little, so that her whole cheek was covered."

Jim raised his eyebrows quizzically, and let out a small laugh. "Are you sure that's what she was doing?"

"Yes." She told him, nodding her head, going over the sign once more to make sure she'd gotten it right.

"Is that right, Ellie?" he asked with a warm grin.

His daughter repeated the sign, clearly frustrated.

"See!" Pam exclaimed, proudly, bringing her hand up to her own cheek. "I _was_ right."

Jim impulsively leaned over to kiss Pam, resting his forehead against hers as he smiled happily.

"Wh--What was that for?" Pam stuttered after a moment, her face slightly flushed.

Jim chuckled.

"Huh?" She sounded slightly breathless.

"She was asking you for a kiss," he explained, signing once more to Ellie, before pointing to Pam.

Ellie instantly lunged forward, planting a sloppy, wet kiss on Pam's lips.

Pam giggled. "She's so_ cute_!"

Ellie then turned to Jim and requested a kiss.

"You want a kiss, huh?" Jim asked, holding his arms out so that she could crawl into his lap, carefully popping her aids in to her ears as she made herself comfortable. Ellie's eyes grew wide and she clapped excitedly at the sound of her daddy's voice. "C'mere then!" he laughed. Wrapping his arms around her tiny body, he smooshed her toward him and planted loud kisses on her cheeks. Ellie fell into a fit of giggles, filling the room with her laughter.

Placing kisses on Ellie's upturned palms, Jim couldn't help but grin. He was so unbelievably happy right now – this couldn't be healthy, right? He was in the company of two _amazing_ ladies and he suddenly felt like the luckiest man alive---God, he was being so cliché and… girly.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sight of Pam out of the corner of his eye, standing and heading toward the kitchen. "Where are you going?" he asked, making funny faces at the little girl in his arms.

Pam giggled. "Didn't you want help?"

"Hmm?"

"Making stuff for Ellie's birthday party tomorrow…" she reminded him.

"Oh! Yeah! That's right." Jim chuckled, embarrassment washing over him. _Oh, great. Not only did he forget that she was coming over, now he'd forgotten the reason. What was his problem tonight?_

Standing up, he shuffled Ellie in his arms, "Okay, Beesly. Let's go. That cake ain't gonna make itself."

Pam grinned, watching as he sat Ellie in her playpen in the corner of the room, making sure she had enough toys to keep her entertained for a while. The whole time he had his back to Pam, he could feel her eyes on him, and the knowledge that she was focused on him made his heart speed up and his breathing quicken, hoping he looked a little more relaxed than he felt.

"One yellow cake with chocolate buttercream frosting coming up!" he exclaimed, forcing himself to sound normal. He walked over to Pam and reached into the cupboard behind her, pulling a box of cake mix out over her head.

"Um, what is that?"

Jim scrunched his nose in confusion. "It's a cake…" he said slowly, waving the box in front of her.

"I can see that," she groaned, pushing the box back toward him, "but why are you showing me this. I thought we were _making_ a cake?"

"Uh, we _are_. Did you not see what I was waving in front of your face just now?

"That isn't how you make a cake, Jim."

"I hate to break it to you, Pam," he mimicked teasingly." But it's _really _simple, I'll show you," he grinned, rolling up his sleeves.

"No, no you won't. We're not making _that_."

"Come on, it's delicious. All you need is a couple of eggs, some water and a stick of butter then, _voila_!"

"No, come on. We're _not_ making Ellie's first birthday cake from a box," she declared.

Jim hid a small smile behind his hand. This was great – he wasn't making Ellie a cake; they _both_ were, _together_. He was about to say something, about to comment, but he stopped himself when he noticed the colour staining Pam's cheeks. _No, don't be embarrassed...please don't be embarrassed._

He quickly continued their banter instead, wanting to put her at ease. "Oh, I'm sorry. Is Betty Crocker's Super Moist Yellow Cake not good enough for you?"

"It's from a box."

"I know that, you _keep_ telling me this like I may not have noticed the…boxage."

"It's just – homemade cakes always taste so much nicer," she admitted, sounding suddenly shy.

"It's okay, Betty. I still love you," he grinned, placing the box on the counter and lifting himself up to sit on the counter top. "I know this may shock you, Pam, but I don't have everything you need to make a homemade cake. I don't really have much use for vanilla extract in my life."

"Well, we're going to change that aren't we, James?"

"James?" He smirked.

"What? It's your name, isn't it?" she retorted.

"It _is _my name," he told her smugly."But my Mom and Grandma are the only people in the world who call me that."

"Oh, _I'm sorry_." she said sarcastically, quickly stepping back into the banter. "As I was saying, _Jim_, we need to educate you in the art of vanilla extract. So, go grab your shoes."

"Really? I think I'll be okay."

"Come on, we're going to the store," she told him, ignoring his last comment.

"What, now?"

"No, Jim. On the twelfth of never. Yes, now!"

"Okay," He laughed, walking over to Ellie, who was now slumped half-asleep over one of her cuddly toys. "Come on, sweetheart," he whispered soothingly as he rearranged her in his arms.

"Oh. She's almost asleep…Should I… should I go to the store by myself?"

"No, no. It's fine," he reassured her as he headed toward the hall. Pam followed quickly behind as Jim got himself ready. He could feel her watching closely as he slipped on his shoes. "Hey, can you hold her for a second? I need to grab my wallet."

"Sure."

He melted at the way Ellie reached for Pam as he handed her over, her hazel eyes stirring lazily as she cuddled into Pam's arms. Smiling sleepily, she tugged on one of Pam's auburn curls, before resting her head on her shoulder.

Jim ran upstairs, grabbing his wallet from his bedside table. As he came back downstairs, he watched, transfixed as Pam twirled the tassels on Ellie's hat around her finger as she spoke quietly to the little girl in her arms. Something must have alerted Pam to his presence on the stairs bringing her gaze to meet his.

"Do you, uh, do you want to take her?" Pam asked. Jim felt his smile drop a little as he heard the nerves cloud her question. Her awkwardness hit him hard. Pam had put Ellie's hat and coat on and was now standing in the hallway, ready to go. And yet she still didn't seem to realise just how much he adored seeing his girls together, so natural. So right.

"No, its okay. She looks really… snugly," he smiled, seeing how comfortable Ellie looked all curled up in Pam's arms.

XxXxXxX

"We don't need a cart," Jim laughed as he pushed Pam toward the entrance of Wegman's. "We're only picking up vanilla, right?"

"No. We also need stuff to make the frosting," she told him as she picked up a basket, making her way toward the baking aisle.

Chuckling, Jim followed quickly behind as he adjusted Ellie in the Snugli that was strapped to his chest.

"Ooooh, food colouring," she grinned excitedly, throwing a couple of bottles of the brightly coloured liquid into the basket. "We could make the cake pink…"

"I don't think so. We're making _yellow_ cake. " Jim smirked, attempting to grab the small bottle from her hand. "Who even colours their cakes anyway?"

"People in England do," she told him matter-of-factly.

An uncontrollable grin covered his face as he asked, "And you would know this how?"

"I saw it on _Cake Masters_… it's like… the British _Ace of Cakes_," she explained, spontaneously reaching for some Graham Crackers as well.

"You watch British cake shows?" he laughed, shoving his hands deep in to his pockets.

"Hey, don't make fun of me. It's on late at night when I can't sleep."

"Yeah? I prefer watching Ninja Warriors when _I_ can't sleep."

Pam grinned and elbowed him gently, careful not to disturb Ellie. "Ninja Warriors? And you're laughing at me? Dork!"

"Hey, be nice! I only watch it… okay, so there really isn't a reason I watch it – other than it being awesome," he laughed, realising how stupid that sounded. "So, what do we need _those _for?" he groaned, pointing at the Graham Crackers. "We only came out for vanilla."

"I know, but I just had the best idea," she grinned, skipping giddily down the aisle. Jim didn't think he'd ever seen Pam this happy before, and the fact that it was Ellie who'd put that excited smile on her face suddenly made him feel so… so _warm, so happy_.

Turning slightly, she called over her shoulder, giggling "Keep up."

XxXxXxX

Taking a seat at the breakfast bar, Jim pointed his bottle towards Pam. "Why are we making two cakes?" he asked, watching her pour the batter into two separate cake pans.

"We?" Pam smirked, tapping the outside of the mixing bowl, loosening the mixture.

He tipped his head back and downed the last of his beer. "Okay. So, why are _you_ making two cakes?"

"That's better," she grinned. "And I'm making something."

"Yeah… I gathered that much."

She poked her tongue out. "Oh, ha ha. You think you're _so_ funny," she teased, handing him the battered covered spatula.

His eyebrows drew together in confusion. "What am I doing with this?"

"I'm finished with it. You can lick it if you want."

"That's wha…"

Moving a stray curl behind her ear, she kicked the door to the oven shut, "Don't you dare finish that sentence." She warned teasingly.

"-t she said," he grinned, his eyes locked with hers as he went back to licking the spatula. He watched intently as she sauntered toward him, nestling herself between his legs.

"Hey." Pam said quietly, resting her hand lightly on his thigh.

"Hi."

She leaned towards him, a look he'd never seen before in her eyes. "So, uh. You've got a little…"

Before he knew what was happening, _he felt her lips against his_ – all soft and warm, and he froze as her tongue gently brushed against the corner of his mouth.

"You had a little batter on the corner of your mouth," she told him breathily.

"Uh huh."

His breathing matched hers as he leaned in for another kiss, this one even slower and sweeter than before. She was nibbling his bottom lip and he could feel himself slowly but surely losing control. Panting slightly, Jim pulled back. Her glassy green eyes locked with his, unwavering, letting him see anything he cared enough to look for within their depths. Exhaling deeply, he ran his hands down her arms, intertwining their fingers, squeezing them enough to focus her attention, letting her see the emotion rolling through him and offsetting the gravity of the moment with a tiny, barely there smile. Pam, mirroring his small smile, pulled him up, leading him into the living room. He sat down on the couch and tugged gently on her arms until she fell on to his lap, their mouths immediately reconnecting, crashing together with a force that would put gravity to shame.

Kissing Pam, _he_ was kissing Pam. That thought killed him almost as much as the action itself. His fingers skimmed the back of her neck as he gently nudged her closer. They continued that way for a little while, until Pam scooted off his lap and lay down on the sofa, pulling him on top of her.

Jim felt a bolt of electricity surge through him at the soft whimper that came from Pam as he nuzzled her neck. He nipped lightly at the skin below her ear, tasting a mixture of perfume and salt… and Pam, _he_ was tasting Pam. She ran her bare foot up and down his jean clad legs. Was she trying to kill him?

_Yep, she's definitely trying to kill me_ he thought, as he felt Pam's hands pull at his t-shirt and run them down his chest before settling firmly on his stomach. Just as his fingers grazed the lace of her bra, a sudden and impatient cry startled them both from their passionate embrace.

"Seriously, I'm going to Tylenol her, next time."

"You'd drug your daughter?" Pam asked as her laughter broke through.

"At this point, I'm thinking it's either Tylenol or a babysitter."

She pushed him off of her gently so that she could sit up. "Well, good thing we have a babysitter for tomorrow then."

"Damn right. I'm already counting down… the seconds, until I can get back to doing… this." He inhaled deeply, attempting to pull himself together before leaning down for another quick kiss. "I'll be right back."

XxXxXxX

"Sorry about that," Jim apologised, walking into the kitchen to find Pam placing the cakes carefully onto the cooling racks.

She looked up and smiled one of those perpetually happy grins he'd come to love so much. "It's fine. Don't worry about it. Was she okay?"

"Yeah. She's just teething," he explained, walking up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist, nestling his face into the crook of her neck. "Mmm," he hummed. "You smell really pretty."

She blushed and tilted her head to the side giving him better access. "Wanna help me make my awesome frosting?" she asked, sighing contentedly at the feel of his lips on her skin.

He rested his chin on her shoulder. "Sure," he replied, pressing his body closer to hers.

She glanced over her shoulder. "Are you going to behave?"

"Hmm, let me think about that… no," he replied, only half joking.

"Well, I'm going to need you to sit over there if you want to help," she instructed, pointing to the barstool on the other side of the breakfast bar.

"Nah. I'm good right here, thanks," he told her, digging his fingers into her hips.

"You're hopeless," she laughed, and he joined in with her.

"Okay. I prefer awesome, but whatever."

"Well, make yourself useful then, and get me some butter and milk."

"Yes, Ma'am," he mock saluted.

Once he'd retrieved the items from the refrigerator, he made his way back behind Pam. "Okay, so teach me how to make this fabulous frosting of yours."

"Okay." She measured the butter and placed it into the mixing bowl. "Now you're going to need to use your fingers to sort of squish the butter around until it's all soft and fluffy."

"Show me."

"It's not difficult, Jim"

"Show me. I don't want to mess it up," he whispered into her ear, nipping it gently.

She rolled up her sleeves and removed her jewelery, before placing her hands into the bowl, squeezing the butter in between her fingers.

"Ah. Like this?" he asked, placing his hands on top of hers, helping her soften the butter.

"Yes," she mumbled quietly, as she continued to knead the mixture in front of them, even though it was now the perfect texture. "Now we uh, we just need to add the cocoa, confectioners sugar, milk and the uh… the vanilla," she stuttered nervously.

He watched her as she carefully measured out the ingredients, throwing them into the bowl. "Now we need to, uh… to beat it," she explained as she worked at the mixture.

"Wow, Beesly. A Michael Jackson fan, really?" he teased, helping her mix everything together.

She leaned back slightly, pressing her body even closer to his as she retorted in a cheeky tone. "I might be, but clearly _you_ are."

"Urm…"

"Ha, yeah. That's what I thought. You're busted, Halpert… Now, keep stirring." She crawled out from under his arms and asked, "Where do you keep your knives?"

He nodded his head towards the drawer next to her. "In there, why?"

"You'll see." She chose a couple of different sized knives and walked over to the cake, touching it gingerly with her index finger to see if it was cool enough to start preparing. Deciding it was she placed the cake she then placed the cake on a tray and began cutting.

"What are you doing?"

"Just wait and see," she told him, looking up and flashing him with a quick smile.

Jim watched as she sliced bits off and rounded corners as she carefully moulded the cake. Once she was done, she began putting the pieces together. It didn't take him long to see what she'd made – there in front of him stood a 1-shaped cake.

"Pam. That's amazing."

"Seriously, you like it?" she asked nervously. "I hope you don't mind. I just thought it would be cute."

He looked up and saw the hesitation on her face. "Do I mind? That's just… I love it." He dipped his finger into the frosting and ran his finger along her bottom lip. "Whoops." He grinned, leaning in to kiss the chocolate from her mouth.

Pam moaned and he could feel her body responding to him._ God, he could get used to this. _Her hands moved to his chest, balling his shirt in her fists, before she slowly pulled herself back. "The cake…" she suddenly said out loud.

"Huh?"

"The cake… we have to ice it," she explained, removing his arms from around her waist.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes…"

Sticking out his bottom lip he whined. "But…"

Pushing him towards the counter she smiled, "Come on, we _have_ to finish this."

"All right, Beesly." He sighed teasingly, "pass me the spatula, so we can ice this baby."

XxXxXxX

Once they'd finished decorating the cake, Jim grabbed a couple of beers from the fridge and linked their hands, pulling her towards the living room.

"Wanna watch a movie?" he asked, as he flopped down on to the couch, bringing her down beside him.

She smiled as she curled her arm around his. "Sure."

"Okay, so it's going to have to be whatever's on T.V at the moment, as my DVD collection consists mostly of Barney and Elmo," he told her, flicking through the channels aimlessly.

"Go back! Jim, go back!" Pam squealed suddenly, reaching across him to grab the remote, "_The Princess Bride_ is on."

"I take it you like this movie, then?" he laughed.

"It's a classic, Jim."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Can we watch it?"

"_As you wish_," he smiled, kissing her quickly.

"You know this movie?" she asked excitedly.

"It's my mom's favourite. She used to put it on for us all the time."

She snuggled closer. "But do _you _like it?"

"It's okay, I guess."

"You _so_ love it, that's cute…Wesley," she teased.

"_Inconceivable_."

Pam giggled, pressing her face into the side of his arm and inhaling deeply. "_You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means_," she recited from memory.

With that, Jim leaned in and kissed her. Letting himself revel in the softness, the warmth of her body and how right it felt to hold her in his arms.

They'd been making out for a while, and Jim had gradually leaned back, his head now resting on the arm of the couch - Pam lying across his chest.

"Ohh, I love this part," she exclaimed, using his shoulders as leverage to push herself off of him. It was clear to Jim that she didn't want things to go any further tonight, especially with Ellie right upstairs. He sat up, glancing at Pam as she cuddled back up to him as she watched her favourite scene play out on screen. They sat like that for some time, enjoying the rest of the movie. As the credits rolled, he realized she'd fallen sleep on his shoulder. Looking at the clock, he saw it was a little after one o'clock. Untangling himself from her as carefully as he could, not wanting to wake her, Jim gently guided her body down and placed a pillow under her head before carefully bringing her legs up so that she was lying fully on the couch. Just as he'd covered her with the blanket from the back of the couch, her head shot up, although her eyes remained closed. "I dunno… I guess you'd use it just like Neosporin…" she muttered, snuggling further into the blanket.

Jim smiled and shook his head. "What?"

Sighing, Pam turned over.

"Okaaay then," he chuckled quietly to himself. "Such a dork." He grinned, making his way over to the door. "Sleep well, Beesly."

XxXxXxX

Jim woke to the sound of crying. He gave a quick stretch before making his way into his daughter's room.

Crouching down beside her crib, he signed. "Shhh. It's okay. Daddy's here." He scooped Ellie into his arms bringing her close to his chest, something that always calmed her down. Sitting down in the rocking chair in the corner of the room, he kissed her temple, "What's the matter, huh? What's with all these tears? Daddy doesn't like it when you cry," he told her, bouncing her gently on his knee and using his thumb to wipe away the tears that had started to dry on her cheeks.

Once Ellie had settled down, he stood up and made his way downstairs. Using his thumb and index finger he formed a little circle, "Do you want some Cheerios?"

Ellie nodded her head, and grabbed on to the neck of his T-shirt, catching some of the hair at the top of his chest as she tugged playfully at the material.

"What are you doing, you little monkey?" Jim asked, chuckling quietly as he tried to release her grip on him. On the way to the kitchen, he ducked his head into the living room, seeing Pam still fast asleep on the couch.

Sitting Ellie in her highchair, he popped in her aids before pouring some Cheerios into a bowl and taking a seat at the table beside her.

"You gonna share some of these with Daddy?" he asked, brushing his right hand over his left, creating the sign for sharing.

Ellie reached into the bowl grabbing a handful of Cheerios, squishing them in her tiny hands as she lifted them towards Jim's mouth.

"Ooooooo's," she offered, not satisfied until he'd eaten everything out of her hand.

"Alright, you eat that while Daddy starts clearing up, okay?"

He got to work on the kitchen and managed to wipe down all the surfaces and sweep the floor before Ellie demanded his attention.

"Daaaaaaa!"

"Yes?" he asked, crouching down beside her.

Her little index finger pointed to the sky, requesting to be picked up.

"Come on, you. You want to help Daddy put away your toys?" he asked, as he rubbed his right fist over his left palm in circular motion.

Ellie nodded her head enthusiastically. He scooped her up and sat her in between his legs on the floor and watched as she began helping deposit her blocks into the little box in front of them.

Bringing a hand down from his mouth to the palm of his other hand. Jim cooed, "Good job, Elliecakes."

Her legs bounced up and down, just like they always did when she got excited.

He repositioned her so that she was sitting on his lap facing him, he grinned. "After such a teary start, you're suddenly very happy today, little lady." Gurgling, she lightly smacked her hands against Jim's.

"You wanna play Pat a Cake?" He asked, knowing immediately what her response would be. Her little fist bobbed up and down impatiently, her way of saying yes.

"Okay, are you ready?" Jim prodded, jiggling her gently on his lap, making her giggle.

"Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, Baker's man! Bake me a cake as fast as you can," he sung, clapping his hands together, followed quickly by Ellie, who began copying his actions to the song.

"Roll it, and pat it," he smiled, tapping her nose lightly, "and mark it with E, and put it in the oven for Ellie and me."

"Aw. I remember Pat a Cake."

Jim turned around to see Pam standing behind them, smiling shyly.

Running a hand through her hair, she began to apologise. "I'm _so_ sorry I fell asleep. Why didn't you wake me?"

"Because it was late and you looked really comfortable," he grinned, standing up. _God, she looks gorgeous and adorable when she's just woken up, he thought._

"Thank you… but I'm still really sorry."

"Don't be. You were pretty amusing. Did you know you talk in your sleep, Beesly?"

"What?" No, I don't," she laughed, shaking her head.

He loved making her blush. "Oh, but you do. And don't worry. I have a constant supply of Neosporin in the bathroom, so you're good."

"Neosporin… What? Jim, shut up."

Leaning against the counter he adjusted Ellie in his arms, "No. I think it's cute. You're like a girl scout. Always prepared…even in your sleep," he laughed, clearly enjoying poking fun at her.

Brushing a curl behind her ear, she turned to leave. "Okay, now I know you're lying."

"Hey, where you going?" he asked, worried he'd offended her.

"_Someone_ let me sleep in," she teased. "I need to go home and change, so I can be back here to help you set up before the party starts."

"Oh, okay." He continued smiling at her, almost wistfully. That feeling was back, yet again. He didn't want her to leave. "Will you be long?"

"Why?" she asked playfully. "You gonna miss me?"

"Actually..." He stared at her. _She was so __great_. "Yeah," he heard himself answer honestly. "I am."

Pam's eyes widened slightly, biting her lip. He hoped it was for a different reason than the day before.

'_Shit, I've scared her.' _

"I'll see you in a bit, okay?" She smiled warmly. _She's okay._

She must've noticed the obvious relief on his face, because she giggled slightly. Blushing, but confident, she walked back over to him and tenderly kissed his cheek. "Bye, Jim."

Pam held Ellie's hand and waved. "Bye, Ellie," she cooed. "See you soon."

Ellie looked up at Jim and then glanced back at Pam. "Buuuh," she waved, bringing her hand up to her mouth to blow a kiss.

Jim watched her leave, the door closing gently behind her. Man, he loved that girl.

****

To Be Continued

Please Review and let me know what you think.


	11. Partay in da house!

Par-tay in da house!

Looking at his watch, Jim noticed he had just thirty minutes before guests started arriving. Setting a diapered Ellie down on the floor of her bedroom, he opened her overflowing closet. "You have far too many clothes for such a tiny person," he smirked as he rifled through the dozens of dresses and onsies in front of him. Ever since his mom found out he was having a little girl, she began stocking up on "the essentials," which included endless amounts of clothes in an endless array of colours.

"So, which will it be, Peanut? The white dress with the birthday cake on the front, which is pretty fitting seeing as it i_is/i_yourbirthday," he grinned, "or this little… aqua number?" He asked, holding both dresses up in front of her. Ellie looked up and bounced on her bottom as she clapped her hands, earning him one of his favourite gummy smiles.

Crouching down beside her, he nodded his head, "Hmm, I agree. The white one will just get dirty, and this dress is much… snazzier." He laughed at himself, what was he even talking about? Ellie stared at him enraptured, she enjoyed hearing his voice, the way his tone rose and fell. She may not be able to understand what he was saying, or even hear the words clearly, but the sound of his voice and his inflection was quite obviously soothing to her.

"Let's get you dressed then, Sweet Pea, before Grandma gets here and yells at me for not having you ready in time." Pulling Ellie towards him, Jim sat on the floor, crossing his legs beneath him. "Arms up," he instructed, tickling her sides so that she'd raise her chubby arms in the air. With the expediency of long practise it wasn't long before Jim had the birthday girl ready and was able to announce to her, "There we go, all done." Turning her around in his arms, he smothered her in kisses, inhaling deeply, delighting in the familiar and oh-so special scent of his baby girl. A delicious mix of Johnson's shampoo and baby powder, a scent he knows will live with him for the rest of his life. "Good thing Pam's getting here first, huh? She'll make your hair look extra pretty. Do you remember the last time Grandma tried to do it for you?" he asked, running his fingers through the wisps of soft curly hair. "You looked like one of those little troll dolls, and we don't want that today, do we?"

XxXxXxX

While Jim was putting the finishing touches to the party room, Pam called, and let him know she'd be a little late, which thankfully gave him enough time to finish setting things up in the living room. He placed a bowl of chips on the coffee table, and hung a 'Happy Birthday' banner on the wall. "You excited about seeing everyone, boogerbear?" he asked, turning around, chuckling at the guilty expression written across his daughter's face. "I think somebody has been stealing food while daddy wasn't looking, huh?" Kneeling down, he pulled a tissue out of his pocket and wiped the smooshed Cheeto from her around mouth.

Ellie grinned as she pushed her soggy half eaten Cheeto in to Jim's mouth. "Daaaaaa."

"Mmm, yummy and look at that, Daddy doesn't even have to chew it himself."

Just as he pulled the excited little girl into his arms, the doorbell rang. Ellie clapped her hands and kicked her feet excitedly against his stomach. Jim cherished the face she made whenever the doorbell rang; it was one of the first sounds she ever reacted to after her hearing aid was fitted. Her mouth would pop open in surprise, as if the most exciting thing in the world had just happened.

Opening the door, they were greeted by his brother Tom, his wife Marci and their daughter Vanessa.

As soon as Tom walked in, he took Ellie from Jim's arms, smothering her in kisses.

"Cute dress, who are you wearing?"

Jim pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and brought it up to his mouth, using it as a microphone. "Well, Tom. Thanks for asking. She's rocking a selection from Gymboree's, spring/summer collection."

Shaking his head, Tom let out a chuckle as he made his way in to the living room. "Big day today, huh?" He asked, flopping himself onto the couch. It always fascinated Jim to watch his brothers interact with his daughter. They could be such assholes to him sometimes, but the way they doted on Ellie… it confirmed what he already knew. That coming home to Scranton was one of the best things he could have done for his daughter… and for himself.

"So, where's i_Pam/i_?" Marci asked as she took a seat next to Tom.

Jim could feel his face beginning to grow warmer. This was great. He hadn't even introduced her to his family yet, and already he was acting like a nervous teen bringing home his prom-date.

"She'll be here soon, just… Tom, promise me you wont be a jerk?"

"Hey!"

"i_Promise/i_me."

Tom laughed and thumped his fist against his heart, "I'm wounded, Jimmy. That really hurt man."

"Don't worry, hun. I won't let him say anything to embarrass you."

"Thanks, Marci."

"Not in front of the girl you i_loooove/i_."

Tom snorted. "Oh, BOOM! Good one, babe," he grinned, high fiving his wife.

He looked down, asking his niece, who had curled her arms around him in a big bear hug. "I hope at least you're on my side, Nessa?"

"Uh, huh," she grinned looking up at him, the adoration for her uncle evidently clear in the way she looks up at him.

Before they could say anything more the doorbell rang again. Ellie climbed out of her uncle's lap and crawled after Jim.

"Hey, mom."

"Hi, sweetheart. Dad will be here soon, he's stuck in traffic" his mom grinned, patting him on the cheek as she walked past him, scooping Ellie into one arm and wrapping her other around Vanessa. "My two favourite girls."

"Hi to you too, mom."

"Sorry, hello, darling," giving him a quick kiss, she continued, "but it's not i_your__/i_ birthday today, is it? It's little Miss Ellie's," she cooed. Are you excited to be spending the night with Grandma? We're going to have lots of fun, aren't we? We know Daddy is going to be having lots of fun tonight too, aren't you darling?"

"Mom. Stop…" He warned.

"Oh, come on. I'm just teasing you," she said, smiling sheepishly.

He followed everyone back in to the living room, and just as he was about to sit down, the doorbell chimed again.

"This has to be Pam," Jim grinned, spotting her car parked outside and made his way towards the door.

"What? She doesn't have her own key yet?" teased Tom, clearly enjoying how uncomfortable he made Jim.

Leaning over Marci, Larissa slapped her son's hand. "Tom, stop it."

As he opened the door, Jim was assaulted by a ridiculously large bunch of pink and yellow balloons.

"Pam?"

"Hey." He could hear her but couldn't see her.

"Uh, would you like some help?" he laughed, gesturing to the handful of balloons and presents that she was currently balancing precariously in her arms. Without waiting for an answer, he took the gifts from her. "Come on, come in. People are already here." He could tell she was just as anxious as he was about her meeting his family; the lip biting was kind of giving her away.

He placed the presents on the hall table, and led her in to the living room to meet everyone. As soon as Ellie saw who it was, she practically catapulted herself out of Larissa's grasp and crawled across to Pam at lightening speed, babbling loudly with excitement. Larissa's eyes widened in surprise; Ellie was normally a grandmother's girl.

Pam handed the balloons to Jim and knelt down, ready to catch Ellie as she threw herself in to her arms. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see everybody watching them closely. His mom's expression worried him; he couldn't tell if it was surprise or offence. Pam managed a smile looking as though she felt incredibly out-of-place. Seeing her hesitation, an emotion Jim couldn't describe washed over him.

Ellie reached up and touched her hand to Pam's curls, interrupting the self-conscious look upon her face.

"Hi Birthday girl," she whispered, standing up with Ellie snuggled in her arms. "Um, hey...everyone." Pam waved timidly to the room full of people.

"Daaaaaa! Ooooooh!" squealed Ellie, pointing to the balloons in Jim's hand.

He cupped his hands in front of his mouth, moving them in an outward circular motion, with his palms facing in. "You like the balloons?" He asked, letting them go, so they floated up towards the ceiling.

She reached out, opening and closing her hand.

Reaching up, Jim pulled one of the balloons down and tapped it gently against Ellie's head, causing her to giggle.

"Is that funny?" he asked.

Ellie raised her hands and pointed her fingertips against each other.

"More? That means more, right?" Pam asked, excitedly. She was slowly picking up some of the signs Ellie used, and it always thrilled her when she got one right.

"Yep. You're right. She wants me to do it again." Jim smiled proudly, as he rubbed the balloon over Ellie's hair, causing the static to make it stand on end.

Clearing his throat, Tom stood up and made his way over to shake Pam's hand.

"Seeing as Jim seems to have lost his manners and isn't doing it, I'll introduce myself. Hi. I'm Tom," he grinned. "The funnier and better looking Halpert brother. That's my wife Marci, and this little squirt is our daughter Vanessa."

"Hi, guys."

"And I'm Larissa," his mom added.

Jim's eyes bulged, warning his mom to not embarrass him. It's a look he'd not needed to do for a while, but he knew that she'd remember what it meant.

"It's lovely to i_finally/i_meet you," she said, smiling sweetly at Pam.

He groaned inwardly knowing his mom had decided to play dumb for a while.

Watching her shift Ellie on her hip, he could sense, even from here, that Pam had started to relax a little. "You too."

Out of habit, Jim moved his hand towards his lips as if he was holding a glass and taking a sip. "So, uh, can I get anybody a drink?" he asked, trying desperately to move the conversation on to something less awkward.

XxXxXxX

It didn't take Pam long to settle in and feel comfortable. She sat herself down next to his mom, with Ellie nestled in her arms. Tom was doing a good job of not embarrassing him. His mom however was a different story. He should have known better, she always enjoyed tormenting them when they bought girls home as teenagers, she did it with both his brother and their wives, and when he first introduced her to Chloe. True to form, she wasted no time in asking about his and Pam's plans for the evening, which would have been perfectly fine, if she hadn't accompanied the question with a pantomime sized wink.

Over the next half an hour, the rest of the guests arrived. His dad, his brother, Pete and his wife, Ashley, along with their four year old son, Alex.

Sadly, once Pete arrived, Tom's behaviour deteriorated. The thing with his brothers was; they were i_almost/i_normal when they were alone, but put them together and they behaved like hyperactive eleven year olds.

"So, Pam," Pete began during a lull in activity. "Jim tells me you're into art and stuff."

"Oh, yeah, I am." She smiled brightly.

Jim grinned watching her; one of the things he loved most about Pam was her sincere love of art. She was an artist through and through.

"Seriously?" Tom interjected. "Lizzy's into that crap too. Hope to God that Vanessa doesn't buy into all that creativity mumbo jumbo." He scoffed. "Can you believe parents actually pay for their kids to go to, like, art school or something? What a waste of money."

That emotion was back, that feeling Jim couldn't really describe, but it felt almost...protective.

"Pam has been taking art classes," he interrupted, teeth clenched. "She even went to Pratt's summer program last year..."

Pete laughed. "Well, I guess you might want to be a little concerned there, Jimmy."

"Yep," Tom nodded. "Now, I ain't sayin' she a gold digger..." he began to sing, Pete joining in with background noises.

"Alright, that's enough," Jim demanded, absolutely livid.

"No, Jim, its okay-" Pam shook her head, her eyes without the luster he saw earlier. "It's really no big deal," she continued quietly, smiling bravely. "I mean, I probably won't make any money with my art..."

"Pam." Jim stared at her intensely, trying to assure her somehow with his eyes.

"But, um, I'm not a..." Pam lowered her voice. "Gold digger, or whatever."

"Pam, you don't have to-" Jim lashed out at his brothers. "You guys need to _stop. Right. Now._"

"We were just joking around, geez," Tom noted, rolling his eyes. "Tough crowd."

"Sense of humor, people," Pete agreed, the two elbowing each other.

"Except it wasn't even remotely funny," Jim noted, reaching for Pam, placing his arm around her in a show of solidarity. "You're both assholes."

"It's okay, really," Pam promised, her eyes telling a different story.

"See, Jimmy? Pam can take it."

Pete gestured to Jim. "He never could take a joke."

Tom shook his head. "Alright, I'm getting some food. Leaving the lameo with no humero with his high-paying artist girlfriend."

"Lame," Pete agreed, the two walking off toward the kitchen.

"Pam," Jim turned to her, desperately. "I am_ iso/i _sorry. They're like that, that's just how they are-"

"No, it's okay." Pam shrugged. "So, they don't like me, that's...fine." She bit her lip. "I think I might go."

"What?" Today was not supposed to go this way. "No, no, they like you. I promise. They've told me. They just pull this crap when they're together, please, you have to stay. Ellie's so excited."

"I just...I don't know..."

"Pam." He looked into her eyes. So beautiful. "I am i_so/i_sorry. You're an amazing artist. They're just… well, assholes. Really. Please stay. We both really want you to stay."

"Hey, Pam," Pete interrupted the two of them, re-entering the living room with a young, studious looking woman. "This is the baby sis, Lizzy. She spends her money on paint and crayons too. It's a match made in heaven."

Pam smiled a little, and Jim felt himself relax. Perhaps his brother had actually realized the jerkiness of his ways.

"See?" he whispered to her. "Now you have to stay," and then louder, "This is my little sister, Lizzy. Lizzy, this is Pam."

"Hi," Lizzy said, shaking Pam's hand eagerly. "By the way, you can call me Liz," she laughed, looking up at her brothers and rolling her eyes.

Pam smiled warmly at Liz. Jim knew that she had spent years trying to convince people to stop calling her Pammy, so this sudden aversion to being called Lizzy gave the two women a simple yet heartfelt bond.

"Yeah, no one really calls me Lizzy anymore apart from these guys… Anyway, it's so great to meet you! Jim talks about you all the time."

He could feel the colour rising in his cheeks again. His sister meant well, but…

Pam's eyebrows shot up, "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. He told me you're a really talented artist, which is _so_cool, because I love painting and stuff. I'd love to see some of your drawings some day." She told Pam earnestly.

Jim was watching them closely. Seeing Pam and Lizzy get along was a weight off his shoulders as her opinion meant a lot to him. Some people may think that that seemed strange, seeing as there are seven years between them, but they'd always been close and he always took her thoughts and views into account in many areas of his life. He should have been embarrassed that he'd been caught blatantly talking about Pam outside of the office, but he wasn't. Before he could think too much about it, his nephew tugged on his jeans.

"Uncle Jiiiiim! When is Ellie going to open the presents we gotted her?" Alex sing-songed, bouncing up to Jim as only a four-year old can.

"That's a good idea, buddy. Why don't we open them now?" Jim said, getting up and bringing all the gifts in to the living room.

Jim, Pam, Ellie and Alex all sat on the floor, while everyone else remained on the sofa. The fact that Pam hadn't thought twice about taking up a place on the floor was lost on no adult in the room, especially not the one who mattered most to him and his soft smile confirmed that.

First up, they, or rather, Jim, opened Tom and Marci's present.

Waving the box in front of her, he said, "Ohh, Ellie. What's this?"

"It's a Winnie the Pooh Sweet-dreams Lightshow." Marci explained. "It attaches to the side of the crib, and it reflects pictures of Pooh and his friends on to the ceiling."

"That's great guys. Thanks so much."

"It's also voice activated," Tom chipped in, "so when she wakes up in the morning and starts talking to herself, the pictures will start up again – could keep her entertained for hours."

Jim laughed, "Nice! Hopefully this will help me sleep in."

Next up was Pam's gift.

Sitting on her hands to stop herself from fidgeting, she laughed nervously, "I hope she likes it."

Ripping off the packaging, Jim grinned, "Wow, Pam. This… this is great!"

"Yeah?"

"Seriously!" He said, showing Ellie the little pink push wagon Pam had bought her.

"I thought it might help her start walking." Pam admitted.

Ellie bounced up and down eagerly as Jim sat her in the wagon; she placed her fists in front of her body and moved them around in circular motion as if she was driving a car.

Everyone laughed. "Yeah, it's kinda like a car." Jim explained, kissing her head tenderly as he pushed her back and forth between himself and Pam.

XxXxXxX

It was late, and Ellie was starting to get tired and the sugar rush from her birthday cake had begun to wear off. Most of the guests had already left- all that remained were his parents, and his brother Pete and his family.

Pam cradled a sleepy Ellie in her arms, while Jim checked she had everything she could possibly need in her overnight bag. "Pacifier – check, blankie – check, Rawr – check, spare batteries – check…"

Larissa smiled as she walked over and stopped Jim from rifling through the bag. "Sweetheart, I'll have her back home by lunchtime tomorrow. You've already packed everything she needs."

"I know. I guess I'm just nervous." He admitted, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"All right, I think this is our cue to leave." Pete chuckled; scooping a sleeping Alex in to his arms. "Little brother, great party, man. Ellie, you're adorable as always, and Pam – it _really_ was nice to meet you."

Jim watched the exchange between his brother and his girlfriend – he knew that his brothers only made fun of people they liked, so as awkward and unnecessary as they were earlier, he felt comfortable in the knowledge that they'd accepted her.

"Thanks guys. It was great meeting you too," she beamed, already feeling as though she'd been accepted in to this close knit family.

Ashley stood up and walked over to Pam. "You guys need to drive up and see us one weekend," she smiled, running her hand gently over Ellie's back. "It's just… really great having Jim back, physically and, well... having our Jim back too." The genuine honesty Ashley conveyed shocked him. He knew his family had missed him living close by, but he'd been home for a while now, so to hear that they meant something more that just being present, well, it made a nice warm feeling settle someplace around his heart.

"That would be great."

"Mom, are you i_sure/i_you don't mind taking her?" Jim asked his mom nervously, as he handed the bag over to his dad.

"Jim. Do you realise how long I have been waiting for you to let this little one come and stay with me?" Larissa laughed, "It's my job as grandma to have my grandkids over – and to spoil them rotten. And until tonight, this is the first time you've let me take her."

"I know, but…she's never spent the night away before…" Jim explained worriedly as he bounced uneasily on the balls of his feet.

Walking over, she carefully lifted Ellie from Pam's arms. "She'll be fine." Larissa assured him, "Give her a kiss. We're leaving." She said, as she held the baby out in front of them both.

XxXxXxX

As soon as everybody had left, Jim and Pam stood in the hallway, facing each and smiling nervously. Why was he feeling so anxious about this evening? It's not like he's never had sex before… Wait…. Jesus, he was going to be having sex tonight… with Pam… correction, they were going to make love. Making love? Who was he? Carrie Bradshaw? He cringed inside himself. He had to get a grip and fast before this evening crashed and burned.

"Would you like a drink?" He offered.

Pam grinned as she closed the small distance between them and kissed him softly on the lips. "I'd absolutely love a drink."

"Take a seat in the living room; I'll be in, in a minute," he told her, as he all but ran in to the kitchen. He wiped his hands on his jeans, before pulling two beers from the refrigerator. He mentally head-slapped himself as he closed the door, realising he had just checked himself in the reflection. Unless he pulled himself together, and quickly, tonight was going to be a very long night. And not in the fun way...

To Be Continued...

I can't apologise enough for how long this has taken me to update. Thank you to all those wo have reviewed and got myass in to gear. I promise you it wont be that long until the next chapter. So-please do me a favour and leave a review. Let me know you're still reading, what you did or didn't like etc. Thanks :)And P.S - the next chapter gets steamy ;)


	12. Patience, Grasshopper

**Patience, Grasshopper**

**Disclaimer - Sadly I own nothing.**

"Take a seat in the living room, I'll just be a minute," he told her all but running in to the kitchen. Wiping his hands on his jeans, he pulled two beers from the refrigerator. He mentally head-slapped himself as he closed the door, realising he had just checked himself in the reflection. Unless he got himself together, and quickly, it was going to be a very long night. And not in the fun way...

Damn, was it hot in here? Or was he just nervous? He could literally feel himself coming out in a sweat. Wiping his brow with the back of his hand, he readjusted the air con, bringing the temperature down a few degrees and prayed that would work.

Jim made his way around the kitchen, opening drawers and cupboards along the way as he looked for the bottle opener he knew he'd seen just days before. Why was it that things always managed to disappear just when you needed them?

"What the hell?" He sighed, as he rifled through yet another drawer. Unable to find what he was looking for, he decided that the Gods just weren't on his side tonight, and so fell back on a college favourite - a dishcloth would work just as well. Popping the first bottle open he placed it carefully on the counter. As he reached for the second bottle, he dropped the dishcloth on the floor.

Just as he bent down to pick the discarded dishcloth off the floor he grimaced as he felt the telltale beginnings of his stomach starting to churn. "Shit." He muttered the expletive as much as he could, aware that Pam was only in the next room. Pressing his hand into his now swollen belly, he wished that he could do something –_anything_ to calm the obviously oncoming storm.

"Is everything okay in there?" His head shot up at the sound of Pam's concerned voice from the other room, realising his attempted quieting of his potty mouth - ha, apt phraseology - hadn't been anywhere close to successful.

"Yeah, just fine! I'll be right with you... in a minute." He called back, hoping like hell that his voice didn't give away how shit he suddenly felt.

"Fuck." He didn't even try to hold back this time; neither did he stop himself from banging his forehead against the counter. Realising that the cool of the countertop was actually kinda nice, he rested there a second while his brain spun as fast as his stomach with ideas on how to get out of this with minimal humiliation.

Lifting his head slightly, he reached for the faucet; maybe a little cool water on the back of his neck would make him feel better, like the coolness of the counter on his forehead – as the icy water trickled down his back, he shivered and a rush of unpleasant goose bumps quickly confirmed that this had not been a good idea. In fact, the situation was only becoming more 'desperate' the more he waited on the wild hope that it would pass. He thought about Pam sitting in the living room, and their _plans_ for tonight, and cursed his body thoroughly - but mostly that damn sweet and sour chicken he snacked on earlier, which he now remembers sniffing far too briefly. But the worst part of all of this was hearing his Mom's voice from earlier _warning_ him not to eat the 'dodgy' looking takeout. In his infinite wisdom he had done as he _always_did with his mom and totally ignored her advice, telling her it was only a day old - when in reality, it was more like three. He groaned. As rough as he was feeling right now, he knew worse was to come when his mom found out and uttered the four most hated words of his life - I told you so.

Before he could criticize himself further on that, powerful waves of pain rumbled through his stomach, which warned him that he really didn't have much time; he wiped the sweat from his face - when had he started to sweat? Another spasm took over, and his only coherent thought and immediate concern rapidly became: 'bathroom. NOW!'

Logically, Jim knew he would look back on this moment later with a mixture of horror and embarrassment, remembering the utter shock he saw on Pam's face as he - literally - ran past her, hand covering his mouth, while mentally begging whatever deity was listening that he actually made it to the bathroom before the situation went from bad to insanely humiliating.

**XxXxXxX**

Jim heard the light tap on the bathroom door; he found the slight pause before the 'Jim? Are you okay?' utterly adorable and he knew he'd have smiled if he hadn't been too busy throwing the contents of his stomach up. Although he soon realised that not answering her was either a big mistake or, pathetically, the best thing he could've done, as he heard her tentative I'm coming in." before the bathroom door opened slowly and her shadow fell across the floor.

He was only vaguely aware that she'd actually entered the bathroom _fully_, but he could feel his shoulders relax fractionally - pathetically - as she sat behind him and started stroking his back as he threw up once more in to the toilet. He vowed to himself that just as soon as he was done being sicker than the sickest dog ever, he was going to stop being so pitifully grateful that Pam was here, making him feel better just by being _here_ and make it up to her. Lots.

Once it looked like he'd finally finished being sick, he looked up to see Pam handing him some water.

"Here, drink this."

"Thanks," he mumbled watching as she smiled at the realisation that he was so embarrassed to have been so sick _tonight!_ But he reached his hand out to accept the cool bottle, once more insanely grateful that she was there and God, yes, giving him much needed water.

That gratitude morphed into total adoration as he felt her hand slip up his sweat soaked back and begin to rub in gentle, slow, soothing circles. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been sick like this. His throat burned and his insides felt as though they had been pulled in every direction possible, but Pam, his wonderful, amazing, caring Pam was making even the most miserable moments of this entire ordeal somehow bearable. He hadn't thought he could fall any further until right then when he realised that, yes, he really could. And he did.

"How you feeling?" she asked, the concern evident in her voice.

"Like shit."

Her sympathetic laugh brought a tiny smile to the corner of his mouth as she continued. "Yeah, you don't look so hot."

"I'm so sorry." He began to apologise, grovel if necessary, when the overwhelming urge to be sick once again overtook him.

He had no control of his body or it's heaving, as it tried to rid itself of whatever was causing him to be sick.

He felt her shift behind him and then saw her reach over and pull a hand towel from the rail before wetting it in the sink. More grateful than he could ever remember being as she placed the now damp material over his neck, the coolness feeling wonderful against his overheated skin.

"Jesus, this is so embarrassing." He groaned, his head resting on his arms that were still gripping the toilet bowl. "This is not how I wanted tonight to go…"

"Jim?"

"Yeah…"

"Be quiet," she teased gently, as she continued stroking his back. He felt her hand slipping under his damp t-shirt and regardless of his somersaulting stomach; he couldn't resist the playful comment.

"Feeling up a sick man, Pam. That's classy." He laughed softly, his stomach feeling as though he'd done 500 sit ups.

"Shut up. I'm just checking to see if you have a fever?" She told him as he felt her fingers now caressing the base of his back.

"Oh? So, nurse… do I have a fever?" He asked, amazed at himself that he could make jokes when he still felt like he'd gone ten rounds with a prize-fighter and very much come worst off.

"Yeah, I think you do. Do you have a thermometer?"

He turned to face her, his head still resting on his arms, that small smile from earlier now spreading over his face.

"Are you serious?" his eyebrows raised in amusement.

"Yes. I want to check how high your fever is."

"There's one in the medicine cabinet upstairs, in the bathroom."

"Think you can make it up there?" she asked, easing herself up on to her knees.

"I think I'm done… for now." He told her, grimacing as he flushed the toilet.

As she stood, he was thankful that her hand instinctively reached out to help him do the same.

As they made their way slowly through the hallway, he felt her lean over and grab her bag from the banister; all the while she gripped him tightly as she started to lead him up the stairs. All of that was more necessary to him just then than he liked to admit, but it was the simple movement of her thumb rubbing gently across the back of his hand, that truly meant the world to him in the moment. That small, natural gesture of comfort warmed him deep inside.

"Come on, let's get you to bed." She said as she walked them towards the bedroom, as though she'd done it a thousand times before.

Jim groaned inwardly. "I can't believe how long I've waited for you to say that to me, and now… this happens."

Pam turned and smiled at him. Her eyes warm with love and affection.

"Soon." She promised, pushing him gently so that he was sitting on his bed. First things first, I want to check your temperature." She said, already half way to the bathroom.

Jim sat, or more accurately, collapsed onto his bed – apparently the strain of being a standing person was far too difficult for his churned up body just then.

"Is this it?" She asked, waving a small machine in her hand as she came back into the room.

"Yeah."

"I literally have no idea what to do with this." She laughed, as she made her way back to him, placing herself firmly between his legs.

"It goes in my ear." He tells her, taking it from her hands, and placing a small cover over the tip.

"Oh."

"Where the hell did you think it went?" he teased, rubbing his grumbling stomach gently.

She blushed. "I don't know."

"Sure you don't."

"Shut up and give me that thing." She said, snatching it from his hand. "So, I just put it in your ear and wait?"

"Yeah, press the button on the back first, and it will beep at you when it's done."

He smiled again as she ever so gently placed the thermometer in his ear, while letting her other hand run her fingers lightly over his forehead, moving away some of the hair that had stuck to his brow while he was being sick.

His eyes closed at the touch of her soft hands. He wasn't expecting this, her taking care of him. He certainly wasn't expecting it to feel like it was the most natural thing in the world.

He thought as soon as she saw him puking his guts up, she'd be out of there, make an excuse and go home. He wouldn't have blamed her, he doesn't know if he could stomach watching someone throwing up like she did. But, he knew right then that he'd done Pam a huge disservice. He knew she wasn't that sort of person; she was a natural nurturer, no matter what she said. And he should have known better, especially after he'd seen her exactly like this with Ellie.

The machine beeped, causing him to jump slightly. She'd relaxed him so much; he more or less forgot what she was doing.

"101.4." She frowned, as she removed the thermometer from his ear. "I wonder if you can take Tylenol after you've been so unwell. Do you think you might have a bug…?"

"I'm pretty sure it's due to the extremely out of date takeout I ate earlier." He told her with a hint of embarrassment in his voice as he spoke.

She shook her head. "Did it taste bad?"

"It wasn't particularly nice, no."

"But you carried on eating it?" she asked, shaking her head at him.

"I was hungry…"

"Okay, well, I have no idea what to do with possible food poisoning, but I'm going to call Penny."

"Penny?"

"My sister."

"I know who Penny is, but why?" He asked, rubbing at his eyes sleepily.

"She's a nurse."

"Oh, okay."

"She reached in to her bag and pulled out her cell phone."

He could only hear Pam's side of the conversation, but the worry in her voice as she explained the situation to her sister made him fall in love with her a little more. He could see the concern in her eyes as she answered her sister's questions.

"That's great, thanks Penny. I'll call you again if I need you. Love you too"." He looked up at her again as she snapped her phone shut. "All right, so if this _is_ food poisoning, which by the sounds of it, it is, we need to keep you hydrated. She also said it was okay for you to take some Tylenol to try and lower your fever."

He nodded, as he clutched at his stomach, wave of nausea once again over taking him.

"Are you okay?" She asked, noticing his face taking on a slight shade of grey.

"I think I'm going to be sick." He said, all but running to the bathroom, getting there just in time. Pam wasn't far behind him. Once again, she placed herself behind him, rubbing his back to try and make him feel a little better.

"Penny said this is what would happen."

"Urgh." He groaned, spitting in to the bowl, not caring that Pam might find that gross.

Jim felt Pam stand up behind him.

"All done?" She asked, popping open the cap of the toothpaste.

"I think so." He said, standing up. His legs shaking slightly.

"Here," she smiled, handing him his toothbrush. "This will make you feel a little better."

"Thanks." He mumbled to her retreating back.

"Where are your pyjamas?" She called from the bedroom.

"Top drawer of my dresser." He replied, his mouth full of toothpaste.

She came back in to the bathroom with a faded Phillies t-shirt and a pair of checked pyjama pants for him. She graced him with one more beautiful, if sympathetic smile; before she closed the door behind her while he changed.

After a few minutes he made his way back into his bedroom, shocked – no, stunned beyond belief - to find Pam sitting bare foot and cross legged on his bed, wearing purple sleeping shorts and a matching tank top and looking for all the world like that was exactly where she belonged.

"You're staying"? He asked, gulping.

"Oh, did you want me to go home?" She asked, her face turning beetroot red.

"God! You have _no_ idea how much I wanted you to stay." he told her honestly. "I just didn't think you'd want to, you know, _now_."

Jim saw the relief wash across Pam's face as he said that. She moved over, patting the bed next to her.

"Come on, you need to try and get some sleep."

Sleep. That sounded so good right now. Who would have thought throwing up would be so exhausting.

He made his way over to the bed, climbing in next to Pam, who lay down next to him.

"Are you serious?" He asked.

"What?"

"Get under the covers, Pam."

"I didn't want to presume…" she said, her face once again turning a bright shade of pink.

"You know we were going to have mad, crazy, swinging from the lights, monkey-sex tonight, right?" He told her, not trying very hard at all to keep the smile off his face.

Covering her face with her hands, she laughed, "Oh my, God."

"What?"

"I can't believe you said that."

"I'm just telling it as it is, Pam. Now, just get under the covers."

Smiling shyly, she climbed in, pulling the covers up to her chin and reached for his hand, lacing their fingers.

"Goodnight. Wake me if you need me."

Lifting their joint hands out from under the covers, he brought her hand to his lips, kissing it tenderly.

"Sleep well, Pam."

XxXxXxX

Jim woke, a little confused and unsure how long he'd been asleep; he turned to look at Pam, taking in the soft sounds she made while she slept. He could feel her legs tucked up tightly against his thigh and he smiled in to the darkness as he let her warmth sink into himself. But of course, such an amazing moment couldn't last, not with his run of luck right now tonight, and suddenly, just like before the agonising cramps began ripping through his stomach. This must have been what woke him, he thought, as he lay still, hoping the pain would subside. His mouth began watering incessantly, warning him that he needed to get to the bathroom – and soon. Again.

He pulled the covers back, racing as quietly as he could to the bathroom, his hand clamped tightly over his mouth, praying he'd get there in time, and that his sudden movements hadn't disturbed a sleeping Pam.

As soon as he got to the bathroom, he dropped to his knees, getting there just in time. He soon felt Pam slide up behind him.

"Still paying for the out-of-date takeout, huh?" she asked, kissing his back through his t-shirt.

Jim wanted to respond, but this time his body wasn't co-operating. His throat felt like it was on fire, and his stomach ached from all the retching.

"Silly question, huh?" He could feel her smile through his t-shirt.

"I haven't been this sick since college," he moaned, dry heaving as he spoke.

Once he was sure he was done, he relaxed back against, Pam, who loosely wrapped her arms around him.

"_This__is__really_ not how I wanted to spend our first night together, you know that right?

"Really? I think this is kinda sexy," she teased, her hands smoothing the hair at the back of his neck. "Come on, brush your teeth and come back to bed."

He stood up and their eyes locked in the mirror, their stare hot and intense. "You're killing me here, Pam."

She grinned, patting him on the butt as she made her way back to the bedroom.

Once he'd cleaned himself up, he climbed back in to bed, feeling Pam snuggle up against him. It was the type of comfort he'd had no idea he needed, but it was everything in that moment. Her fingers drawing soft patterns across his stomach caused him to shiver.

"Oh, sorry. Do you not like that?" She asked.

He threw his left arm over his eyes and sighed. "Mmm! No, it feels good – almost too good, just don't stop. Ever?"

He let himself sink deeper into the beautiful touch of the woman he loved before whispering "Thanks for… this, for it all. I love you."

He was met with silence, Pam having already fallen back to sleep.

XxXxXxX

Jim awoke the next time to the sound of Ellie's giggles floating up from downstairs. He attempted to roll over slightly, so as to get a better look at the woman sleeping peacefully beside him, only to find the space next to him both cool and empty. Panic shot through him, his brain unable to keep up with the thoughts running through his head. Had she woken up that morning, leaving quickly and quietly so she didn't wake him, hoping to get away without making awkward small talk… no, what was he thinking? This is Pam, the woman who looked after him last night, as though leaving was the last thing on her mind.

He sat up quickly, regretting it instantly as a cruel mixture of dizziness and nausea overtook him, making him lean his head back against the headboard. Squeezing his eyes shut, he tried to focus on what was going on downstairs, but all he could hear was the sound of his own staggered breathing, the thought that he might have been hallucinating briefly crossed his mind. He attempted to sit up again, inhaling deeply as he tried to ignore the way his stomach churned every time he moved. He sat for a few minutes, trying to get himself accustomed to being vertical again, after what felt like the longest sleep he'd ever had, before making his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

Jim held on tightly to the banister as he made his way down the stairs, hoping he was quiet enough that he wouldn't disturb whatever was going on downstairs. He was exhausted by the time he made it to the bottom and felt as though he had to lean against the wall behind him to remain standing. But from there, he had the perfect view in to the living room. There, curled up on the floor together was Ellie and Pam, enjoying what looked like an imaginary tea party.

"Jewse?" Ellie asked, handing Pam a little plastic tea cup as she lifted her pinkie up towards her mouth and flipped her hand up and down.

The look of utter adoration on Pam's face made his chest hurt.

"Juice, at a tea party? I always knew I was raising a classy lady." Jim teased, as he made his way in to the room.

"How you feeling?" Pam asked, her eyes never leaving her game with Ellie.

He groaned.

"That good, huh?"

Ellie looked up at him and frowned. "Dadda ow…?" Ellie asked, as she clumsily tapped her index fingers together next to her tummy.

"That's right baby, daddy's tummy hurts."

"Gug…" the little girl offered, as she crossed her arms over her chest and attempted to stand up at the same time, landing in Pam's lap in a fit of giggles.

"What's she saying?" Pam asked, as she helped Ellie back up, her little arms immediately extending towards Jim.

"She was asking if I wanted a hug. Weren't you, sweetheart?" He grinned, picking her up and placing her on his lap, his little girl's arms wrapping tightly around him as she gave him a cuddle. "That makes me feel so much better, babygirl" Jim smiled at his daughter, dropping a kiss to her forehead, surprised and elated that he meant every word.

"Wow, so have you two had a fun morning? I'm _so_ sorry my mom just dropped her off like this…" He tried apologising.

"It's fine. I told her she could go home," Pam laughed, pulling herself up on the sofa next to him. "I hope that was okay…"

"Are you kidding me?"

"I wasn't sure…"

"Was my mom, okay?" He asked, wincing at the thought of Pam telling her about last night.

"She said, and I quote, '…and it serves him right'"

"Urgh. I knew it." He groaned, rubbing his hands over his stubbly face. "I bet she was smiling as she said it, huh?"

"I wouldn't say smiling… maybe more like smirking or maybe grinning." She teased, stroking Ellie's bare foot, which was now bouncing on her leg.

"Has she been home long?"

"About an hour. We were just about to grab something to eat."

"Please, don't talk about food." He groaned meekly, his hand massaging his still sore stomach.

Ellie reached over to the fruit bowl which was sitting on the table next to Jim. "Dadda, eech?" she offered, handing him a piece of fruit.

Jim shook his head and laughed. "That's not a peach," he explained, putting his fingers on his cheek and pulling them together as if he were plucking something off of the surface. "That's an apple. Can you sign apple?" He asked, as he hooked his fist and brought it up to his cheek, twisting his hand, as though he were twisting off the stem of an apple.

Ellie attempted to copy him, bringing her hand up to her face and resting her fingers on her cheek. He could see Pam out of the corner of his eye, trying out the sign as well.

"Is this right?" she asked excitedly, forming the sign effortlessly.

He nodded. "If my child wasn't sitting on my lap, and you know, I didn't feel like death. I'd kiss the hell out of you right now."

XxXxXxX

"Pam?" Jim called from his makeshift bed on the sofa later that afternoon.

Yeah?" Pam asked, walking back into the living room with Ellie perched on her hip.

"I just wanted to know where you guys were." He asked croakily, watching his sleepy daughter play with Pam's hair. Enthralled by the way the curls sprang back after she gently tugged on them.

"You fell asleep, so we were just doing some reading in the kitchen." She explained softly, shifting Ellie to the other side, so that she could face Jim. "She's a big fan of The Hungry Caterpillar, huh?"

He laughed. "Oh, yeah. We can't just read that book once."

"You wanna go give daddy a cuddle?" Pam asked, lowering the tot to the floor, only for his little girl to attempt to use his girlfriend's leg as a step ladder to climb her way back up. Apparently, his daughter would rather have cuddle time with Pam than say hello to her daddy. Strangely, he was very ok with that.

"Sorry." Pam blushed; clearly embarrassed that Ellie would rather stay with her than go to Jim.

Sitting up, he couldn't take his eyes off of the woman standing in front of him; it frightened him at how quickly she owned his heart. And he realised, right then, with Ellie snuggled safely in her arms, that she was it for him. This is what he'd been so desperately craving. "Don't worry about it." He said reassuringly.

Looking over at him, Pam bit her bottom lip shyly. "How about we both join you for a cuddle?" she suggested, making her way over to the sofa. Lifting up the blanket, Jim patted the space next to him. He shifted a little, so that his head rested against the back of the couch and relaxed at the feel of Pam and Ellie snuggled up next to him.

TBC

Please please please let me know hat you think. I really do have so much planned for this story. This is just the start :)


	13. The Movies Had It Right After All

**Chapter 14: The Movies Had It Right After All.**

**Sitting cross legged on the living room floor, Pam was busy folding laundry.**

**"You seriously don't have to do that," Jim insisted from his place on the couch. "I'll get to it when I'm feeling better."**

**"I don't mind." Pam grinned, as she neatly folded a pair of his boxers. "Plus, Ellie is running out of clothes, and I feel _really_ bad for putting her in… that," she admitted, pointing at the mismatched outfit.**

**"What, you don't think plaid goes with polka-dots?" Jim chuckled as he looked at his little girl who was playing quietly on the floor, utterly captivated by her teddy bears. He smiled wider, loving that right then, she hadn't a care in the world about what she was wearing.**

**"Joan Rivers would have nothing nice to say about that outfit."**

**"What?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.**

**"E's Fashion Police…"**

**"You look at me like I should know what that is." Jim laughed as he rolled on to his side to face her, adjusting the pillow under his neck to make himself more comfortable.**

**"Well, you should know it; it's only the best show on E!"**

**"That's not really saying much then, is it?" Jim smiled, enjoying how silly they could be together at times.**

**"Are you feeling any better?" Pam asked, as she finished folding laundry and focused all of her attention on Jim.**

**"A little, yeah." He intoned, rubbing his hand subconsciously over his stomach.**

**"Think you're up for trying some chicken soup?"**

**"Eh."**

**"Come on, you have to eat something," she pled, as she scooted her way towards him. "For me."**

**He let out a dramatic sigh.**

**"OK, but only because you asked nicely," he agreed, failing to hide the grin that crept up on him.**

**XxXxXxX**

**By Sunday afternoon, Jim was starting to feel more like himself, yet whenever Pam would ask how he was feeling, he'd groan and pull a face indicating that he still felt unwell. He didn't know why he did it, ok, he did. It was nice having her there, taking care of him. Of course he'd rather have spent the weekend like they'd originally planned, naked and in bed, wrapped up in each others arms, – but this, this was a close second.**

**"Was the soup okay?" Pam asked, running her fingers through his hair as his head lay comfortably in her lap.**

**"It was great." He sighed, his body relaxing in to her feather light touch.**

**"Think you'll be well enough for work tomorrow?"**

**Luckily Pam couldn't see his face, and see how hard it was to stop himself from smiling. "I doubt it." Jim replied. He probably _could_ make it in to the office tomorrow if he tried, but he would rather spend the day playing hooky with his girls.**

**"You should call in sick too."**

**"Jim!"**

**"What? I'm going to need help looking after Ellie." He told her innocently.**

**"Oh, I thought you might want to spend the day with your mom instead." She teased.**

**"Uh. I love my mom, I really do. But if I get to choose who I want to spend the day with. You win. _You_ definitely win." He smiled, leaning up to kiss her, wrapping his arms loosely around her waist. She leaned towards him, pulling him closer, her hands on the back of his head, playing with the soft tuft of hair at the base of his neck.**

**"Yeah, I definitely don't think I'll feel well enough to go in tomorrow."**

**"Jim!" she squeaked, pulling herself away from his gentle, yet demanding lips. "The baby."**

**"She's asleep," he whispered, motioning with his head for her to have a look.**

**"Oh." Pam nodded, seeing Ellie curled up asleep with her teddy bears, her little butt in the air and fingers in her mouth. "How could you tell?" she asked, impressed that he knew she was fast asleep when he didn't seem to be watching her at that moment.**

**"I could just tell. I know how she breathes when she's asleep, and trust me; she's having some sweet baby dreams right now."**

**"Baby dreams?"**

**"Yeah, she's probably dreaming about naps, bubble baths and mashed up banana."**

**"What are you talking about?"**

**"I have no idea. Just, come here." He groaned, pulling her face towards him, their mouths once again finding each other and his lips instantly opening beneath hers.**

**"Jim…"**

**"Hmm." He hummed, moving from her mouth to gently suck on her collarbone.**

**"Seriously, as much as I want to," she sighed, both from pleasure and at the thought of stopping. "We can't… I should…I should put Ellie in her bed for her nap."**

**He pulled back and smiled warmly at her. He knew she was right. It wasn't fair to leave her napping on the floor like that, Ellie should be in bed, and the way he was feeling, he didn't want to start something he couldn't finish.**

**"It's okay. I'll do it." He told her, running his finger lightly over the purpling mark he'd made on her neck mere seconds ago.**

**"Are you sure you feel up to it?" She asked, laughing quietly at how stupid that sounded after what they'd just been doing.**

**"I think I'll manage." He said, feigning a cough as he stood up.**

**"Aww, are you coming down with a cold?" She teased. "That's a shame. I don't like to make out with boys who are sick."**

**"Well, you weren't complaining a minute ago." He teased back, giving her a cheeky little wink; enjoying the way her face flushed as he spoke.**

**"Urgh, you're so annoying." She grinned, shaking her head and covering her face with her hands as she attempted to compose herself, desperately trying to stop the laughter that so badly wanted to burst out.**

**"Urgh, you're so cute." He mimicked back, scooping Ellie in to his arms and making his way towards the door.**

**Pam watched him walk upstairs; planting soft kisses on his daughter's rosy cheeks as he cradled her in his arms. It was at this moment she knew that this is where she wanted to be. That scared her slightly, how could she feel this way about him… about them, so soon? Her mom had always told her that when she met the man she was destined to spend the rest of her life with, she'd '_just_ _know_.' She'd always wondered what that meant, but now she knew; now she fully understood what her mom was trying to explain to her all those years ago. It wasn't just one thing, yes, her stomach felt like there were a hundred butterflies flitting around, and yes, her heart actually missed that beat she'd read about and yes, her knees threatened to buckle when he looked at her in _Just. That. Way._ She'd never felt like this with Roy. She'd never felt all the clichéd, old wives tales that she'd never believed were really true. Until now, when she found out that without doubt, they were clichés for a reason. Real and true.**

**"Did she go down okay?" Pam asked as Jim walked back into the living room interrupting her thoughts.**

**"Yep." He grinned, making his way towards where she was settled on the couch.**

**"Good. You should probably nap too."**

**"What?" he snorted. "I'm perfectly fine, thank you." Which was only partly true, his stomach was still a little tender and he felt as though he'd pulled an all-nighter.**

**"Jim, I saw you yawning the entire way down the stairs. You hardly slept last night. Go lay back down. I have things to do anyway."**

**"Like what?" He questioned, genuinely interested in what she could possibly _have_ to do.**

**"The kitchen is a mess. Your kid is cute, but she's in to _everything_."**

**He took a seat beside her, resting his head on her shoulder. "I swear she'll eat anything she finds on the floor," he laughed. "Who needs a vacuum when you have a kid…"**

**"I noticed that. I had to keep fishing random pieces of cardboard out of her mouth."**

**"Sorry about that."**

**"You don't have to be sorry. Just, go to sleep, okay? I'll wake you in a bit," she grinned.**

**XxXxXxX**

**Jim felt warm.**

**Not the cloying overly warm horribleness that he'd felt all weekend, but the snuggly, wrapped up on the couch, happy kind of warm that comes from knowing you are safe and cared for…and loved.**

**Smiling to himself, he let that thought linger around the edges of mind and soul. It was such a long time since he'd been able to say that about someone who wasn't related to him. He couldn't stop the corners of his mouth turning upwards as he thought about it all.**

**He loved and was loved in return.**

**If he'd had any doubt about that at all before the weekend, it was all but erased now. No woman would look after him during the simultaneously most embarrassing and horrid sessions he'd had with his toilet since he was a kid, while also looking after his baby in a way that always set his heart fluttering. And geez, he was totally beginning to sound like the girl in this relationship…**

**Speaking of, where were his girls? How long had he been asleep?**

**Right, he'd need to actually open his eyes and maybe move his body from the little warm cocoon on his couch to find that out, wouldn't he?**

**He felt better, he felt like he could move without bolting to the bathroom, which in itself was a small and very gratefully received improvement. But oh, the energy he had to summon up to crack open one eye wouldn't have been worth it for anything other than locating his girls. Well, one girl and, as his body always reminded him, one very much _all_ woman.**

**He was on his second attempt to a three count – it took a lot of willpower to open his eyes it seemed – when he heard it. The quiet opening and closing of a door piqued his senses. He listened as soft padding footsteps that most definitely did not belong to his little monkey came closer. He schooled the smile that threatened to break on his face as he decided to wait and see how it played out.**

**A soft, but business like touch smoothed across his forehead, checking for a lingering fever, no doubt. He held himself still, waiting to see what she would do next, when he felt cool, silky lips touch his forehead in place of the hand. Jim wouldn't have been able to stop the gentle hum of approval that sounded from him if his life had depended on it.**

**"Hey, you," came her indulgent, happy voice. Everything about her, so easy, so caring.**

**Jim opened his eyes, filling his senses with her. The sparkle in her eyes, the nervous but honest smile on her lips, and the smell of everything that made her _her_…**

**"Hmmm. Hi." If he had the energy he'd have slapped his own head. That was it? That was his game? What happened to the thanks and praise and general lustful fantasies he'd promise himself he'd heap on her the moment he felt better?**

**Her answering chuckle stopped his thoughts though. Since when was a chuckle sexy?**

**"You've been asleep all evening, I tried waking you earlier…I didn't want you to not be able to sleep tonight"**

**Jim bit back his initial reaction. If he had his way, there would be very little sleeping tonight. For either of them. But she had to be tired right? Looking after him and his baby girl… wait.**

**"Where's Ellie?"**

**"Don't worry, she's all bathed, PJ'd, and sang to sleep. I really can't believe how quickly the vibration from my chest lulls her straight to sleep."**

**Jim started to sit up before he did something embarrassing at the mention of her chest. He figured giving his tired body something to task itself with would be enough distraction.**

**He was sort of wrong there.**

**Coughing slightly, he redirected himself again.**

**"She went to sleep without, Daddy?" Yeah, he knew the pout was showing.**

**"She's done a lot of things without Daddy this weekend, Jim, but she was so cute when she understood you were sick. She now knows the sign for 'feel better'. I'm sure she'll show you tomorrow."**

**Jim's heart all but exploded. Not just at the cuteness that was his daughter, but that he had someone to help him. Someone who loved Ellie and him enough to be there, to watch out for him, to ease his worries.**

**"I can't tell you how much I appreciate everything you've done for me this weekend."**

**"I'm only keeping you around for your adorable daughter."**

**"Hmm, I can't say I can blame you in the slightest for that."**

**Jim grinned as he watched Pam smile at him, her gorgeous eyes lighting up with something timeless and beautiful.**

**Just as her lips were about to touch his, reality reasserted itself and he pulled back sharply. Seeing the look of hurt cross her face, he hurried to explain.**

**"Pam, I've been asleep most of the day, after having some less than nice stuff come through my mouth over this weekend. I _really_ don't want to inflict my breath on you right now- anymore than I have already…"**

**She was laughing. Not with him, not in relief. No she was laughing _at_ him. He was being thoughtful, a good partner and she was laughing at him? It was his turn to look hurt, only he was sure he looked more like a pouting five year old.**

**"Hey, I was trying to be the perfect gentleman..."**

**"Too late for that." She teased, smacking his butt as he jumped off the couch.**

**"Give me two seconds?" He asked as he raced out of the living room, taking the stairs two at a time. He could hear her laughing to herself as he made it to the bathroom, making quick work of his teeth.**

**"All done?" She smiled, when he walked back in to the room.**

**"Yep. Minty fresh." He nodded, letting out a large puff of air in to her face to prove his point.**

**"That's charming. What happened to you wanting to be the perfect gentleman?"**

**"Yeah. I gave up on that." He told her, as he took her in to his arms and kissed her.**

**The sexy little moan he heard from her as he intensified the kiss sent him deeper. He threaded his fingers through her hair, pulling her close enough so that their bodies were perfectly aligned.**

**"Easy there, tiger, you're still sick, don't start something you can't finish," she laughed, enjoying the reaction she got from him.**

**"You know, I think I'll be okay."**

**"What are you doing?" Pam asked, giggling softly as Jim wrapped his arms securely around her waist, pulling her even closer towards him.**

**"Well, if you have to ask…" he mumbled, as he began kissing her neck softly. The rest of his words lost, as his tongue made quick work of the distance to her collar bone. A quiet sigh escaped from her lips, encouraging him to be a little more daring. Jim began slowly teasing the skin beneath her t-shirt, stroking her back slightly with the tips of his fingers. Her skin was warm and soft like velvet. His hands made their way around her waist, before settling on her stomach.**

**Stilling his hands, he asked. "Is this okay?"**

**"Hmm," she hummed, not once lifting her face to look at him as her grip on his shoulders tightened.**

**"Is this okay?" He repeated, unable to keep the laugh out of his voice.**

**"Oh, yeah." She brought her head up to look at him, letting him see just how _okay_ she actually was.**

**"Good."**

**Stroking her belly ever so lightly with the backs of his knuckles, he watched in delight at the way it made her shiver.**

**"Upstairs."**

**"Hmm," he mumbled, as he kissed and nibbled on her collar bone.**

**"Take me upstairs."**

**Jim stepped back slightly to look at her. "Are you sure…?"**

**Her finger tips trailed from his shoulders, down his arms before lacing them between his own. He felt her pull him by his fingers and lead him to the door, quietly switching off the light without ever losing his gaze.**

**Jim pulled himself out of his stupor at the base of the stairs, pulling her to him with just enough force to bring her chest to his, his mouth to hers, his free hand tangling again in her hair while the other remained entangled with hers. He kissed her like a man who had finally been given everything he'd ever wanted, and he felt the shudder wrack through her.**

**Easing back through a fear of showing her too much too soon, he was shocked when he opened his eyes to catch her glorious green gaze laughing back up at him. Those goose bumps he thought he'd banished moments before chasing over his skin once more as she dropped his hand from hers and trailed her fingers over his chest, down his stomach before hooking them in his belt loop. The gentle tug he felt was more powerful than anything before as he let her lead him by the belt up the stairs, nothing spoken, but everything communicated.**

**This was it. _Finally_.**

**She was his.**

**He was hers.**

**XxXxXxX**

**Jim smiled as Pam softly closed the bedroom door behind them, turning away from him just for a moment to compose herself he thought.**

**But this was their time, and composure was overrated.**

**Taking a step towards her he crowded her back, his chest flush to her. Reaching around her, he held her firmly to him with one hand splayed on her stomach while the other gently turned her face to his, allowing his mouth the sheer pleasure of re-acquaintance.**

**Her answering sigh told him everything he needed to know and so he allowed his splayed fingers to trace patterns over her stomach, random meandering nothings that spoke so clearly to her of his emotion and his intentions. Now it was her turn to suffer the goose bumps.**

**Yet his Pam was far from passive. She turned in his arms threading both hands into his hair, allowing his kiss a much better angle to ravish as his hands wandered gratefully, mapping the contours of her spine and shoulders, before sweeping down and cupping that delicious peach of an ass and pulling her into him. Letting her feel the obvious arousal he sported.**

**The sound she made was a beautiful cross between need and desperation and it did it for him in a way nothing ever had before. His hips began grinding into her; involuntarily showing her what was to come, literally and figuratively. His hands ghosted around her sides, stroking the gentle swell of her breasts before capturing her already peaked nipples between his fingers, only then letting her gasp separate their mouths.**

**"I want to see you," he whispered at her, hardly recognising the sound of his own voice.**

**He waited until her small nod before slowly and carefully pulling her top up and over her head, dropping it uncaringly behind them.**

**His attention riveted to the simple white lace covering the most glorious breasts he'd ever seen.**

**Without conscious thought he dropped his mouth to one of the tempting peaks he could already see straining against the lace. Feeling her knees almost buckle as he tightened his teeth around her, playfully but with enough pressure to be perfect, before sucking hard, drawing her into his mouth. He wasn't sure who moaned loudest, he wasn't sure he cared because in that moment he felt her pull him up… by the ears…**

**"I want to see you too," she sighed.**

**He was wrong before. The lust and longing he heard coating her voice was what did it for him more than anything before. Ever.**

**He watched her watch her own hands as the pulled of his t-shirt, both watched and felt her explore his chest, letting her linger on the sensitive spots she found on his flanks before her fingers preceded her mouth to his nipples and he returned the favour. Only his knees _actually_ buckled as her mouth closed around a nipple. It would've been embarrassing with any other woman. But with this one, with his Pam, is was just a testament of his love and adoration and judging by her smile at that moment, she knew it too.**

**They shared one silent, calm moment more, giving and receiving everything in just one gaze before the heat took them again, and before he knew it, he was hovering over her on the bed, him in just his boxers and her in just her underwear, and he was about to get to work on that.**

**His first glimpse of her bare chest stole his breath, her arms instinctively coming to cover herself, slightly uncomfortable under his gaze. He understood that, but he was blown away by how perfectly made for him she was and so he kissed confidence back into her. As his hips ground his aching length against her thigh, unable to contain the movement and somehow knowing that she needed it. Before he knew it, her arms were around his back, her fingers scratching at the skin while he learned her body one piece at a time. His mouth and tongue mapping the shape and feel of her breasts, her nipples as his hands drew patterns down her stomach, allowing her sighs and gasps to guide him until he was tracing a fingertip gently along the barrier of the elastic just under her bellybutton, over and over again, before sliding against the silk to her centre to rub ever so lightly at the moisture he could feel marking the silk. Over and over again, knowing it was driving her insane as he kept her mouth occupied with his, her nipples lavished with the attention of his other hand while waiting patiently for her tell.**

**And then suddenly, there is was - the uncontrolled bucking of her hips and the sigh of 'please' into his mouth.**

**He rose up from her and knelt in the cradle of her legs, looking down at the most glorious sight of woman he'd ever seen as his cock throbbed with impatience.**

**His fingers hooked beneath the elastic and slowly, teasingly for them both, tantalising each other with the wait, knowing it would be even better for the anticipation.**

**Until that moment when she was revealed to him, no barrier now, just her and her gloriously naked body as she waited for him – _for him - _ to give her everything her body was asking for.**

**He couldn't help but allow his fingers to trail over her mound, dipping slightly into the warm, wet welcome she had for him, feeling her buck into the too light pressure as he teased and explored before giving her a little more pressure, a little more depth before tracing back up her centre to that little bundle of nerves that he'd already learned made her actually squeak.**

**"God, Jim, more… "**

**He obliged and allowed one finger to find her, pushing into her slowly, fully, curling within her over and over while his thumb played her clit as the other hand teased her nipples once more, letting himself watch her from this vantage point, feel her body and her reactions to him, over and over until she was mindless beneath his hands.**

**He wanted, needed, to taste her.**

**Sliding a second finger into her gently he began to lean down, bringing his face over her centre, breathing her in, feeling himself harden to painful levels at the sensations she was giving him, just by letting him play with her and he couldn't wait a moment longer, his tongue reached out and gently laved at the moisture around her clit, all the while keeping his fingers playing a rhythm inside of her.**

**He felt her entire body stiffen, not in ecstasy, but in shock. He immediately stopped moving and looked up at her. Seeing a rosy hue spread on her face, burning in embarrassment, not need. He felt the frown mar his forehead as he struggled against his own all-encompassing arousal to figure out what happened. What was wrong? It was only when her eyes flicked to his mouth that he understood.**

**"You don't want me to taste you?**

**If it was possible, her blush intensified.**

**"I… I just… I'm really… and I … " he made a mental note to remind himself to tease her later for being embarrassed even when he had two fingers buried in her and she was stark naked in front of him. But for now he had to fix this.**

**"I want to taste you, Pam. So badly. If you don't want me to because you don't like it, that's perfectly fine, but if it's just because you are embarrassed, please… don't be. I want you. All of you. And god, I'm dying to feel you come apart on my mouth and hand. Please let me."**

**He felt her inner walls clamp on his fingers even as he saw her blush change from shy to aroused again, so he started to gently move again inside of her as he brought her hand to the slit in his boxers.**

**"Feel that, Pam. Feel how much I want you, need you. Every single bit of you."**

**It was his turn to gasp as her fingers circled him, already seeming to know exactly how to move over him, the perfect pressure, glorious.**

**"God, Pam. Please…"**

**He moved his mouth to her again, knowing she didn't need to speak the words, the rush of extra warmth coating his fingers and the fluttering of her internal walls was enough permission that he needed.**

**Her fingers fell away from him as his tongue laved her, broad strokes turning into light and teasing as his fingers moved within her. His sole purpose now to make her break apart around him, needing to feel it, hear it, see it.**

**He settled his lips tightly around her clit just as he felt her grip his fingers with her inner muscles, knowing she was right on edge, hearing that keening cry that drove him wild, a hum moving through his throat just enough of a vibration to push her over the edge as she shattered around him.**

**Glorious indeed.**

**XxXxXxX**

**He slowly withdrew his fingers, gently pressing one last kiss to her mound before rising up again to sit on his heels and look at the splendid devastation he'd wrought on her. He watched as her chest heaved as she caught her breath. Her elevated heart rate actually reminding him of the now painfully uncomfortable throbbing in his shorts. Yeah, he should do something about that.**

**Sliding down to lay on his side against her, he planted gentle kisses to her shoulder, his hand tracing slow sweeping arcs over her body, thigh, hip, stomach, chest as his other hand worked his shorts lower over his hips, stunned into stillness when her eyes caught his on a breath-taking smile, while her hands helped push the cotton over his hips and down his legs.**

**"I want to see you too, Jim," she whispered on an exhale as his heart just about stopped when she took him in hand, once more with perfect tempo and strength and brought him to a quivering wreck within seconds. The moment her thumb traced his tip, spreading his own moisture, he was done for. He rolled over her, his mouth taking hers deeply, letting her taste herself on him, loving her more for not pulling away from her flavour on him.**

**Her hand was killing him, slowly in the best way possible and if he let her carry on, he was going to finish way before either of them wanted.**

**Placing a gentle kiss on her nose, he pulled her hand away from him, watching the knowing smile creep across her face as her fingers stroked his cheek and her other hand curled around his beside her head.**

**This was that thing they talked about in movies, it had to be, because it was nothing like he'd ever felt before.**

**Reaching blindly into his nightstand without ever letting his eyes fall from hers or his hand from hers, he cursed his lack of foresight. Sure he'd been smart enough to stock up on condoms, but he hadn't been smart enough to open the damn box beforehand…**

**He actually cursed and was relieved at her answering laugh and sly kiss to his bottom lip before letting him go and pay attention to what he needed in that moment. The five seconds it took to rip both the box and the condom wrapper open were far too much for him though, as was the three seconds it took for him to roll the latex on and position himself against her.**

**He felt her spread her legs wider, fitting him into the cradle of her body so perfectly he almost wanted to weep, her hand finding his again, while her other went to his cheek again.**

**"Now, Jim. Now." He would never know if she actually said those words audibly in that moment or if he just felt them, but either way, he slowly, calmly pushed himself into her, savouring his last first time. Both of their last first times.**

**Her groan of pleasure as he filled her echoed in him, as he held still once he was fully within her, giving them both a moment to adjust and take in the sheer beauty of the moment. He had been wrong before, _this _was what they talked about in movies, this wasn't sex, this was him, making love, for the first time in his life.**

**Wow. He really _was_ the girl in this relationship tonight!**

**Time to prove just how much of a man he was.**

**And with that thought, his lips lowered to rest against hers, not kissing, just touching, just savouring the contact, sharing their breath as he began to move within her.**

**Long, slow, deep strokes that brought them both to the brink, before he eased off, teasing them both time and again before he felt her walls flutter around him, felt the tension coil in his back and knew he couldn't hold off a moment longer. Her head flew back as her body arched against his. His strokes became sloppy, erratic and harder, hitting her in the perfect spot, once, twice, three times, before he heard her cry out at the same moment her walls gripped him in a way that told him she'd flown all over again.**

**He stilled, letting her come down from her high, come back to him before he felt her take his lips in a deep and sated kiss, before tangling her hands in his hair again as she whispered, "…let me feel you, now, Jim. Your turn, baby, let go."**

**And so he dropped his forehead into the valley of her breasts and did just as he was told.**

**The tension in his spine coiling through him like a snake, reaching beyond anything he knew, as he came within her, deep, hard and longer than ever before as her body milked every last shudder of bliss from him as her words hit him deep in his soul.**

**"Finally," she sighed.**

**He couldn't speak, couldn't reply, could only move his mouth to hers and kissed her with everything he had, everything he felt, everything he dreamed they'd be.**

**She pulled away, and kissed his forehead again, shushing him into calm, confirming she was there, and with him in everything.**

**He rolled to his side, quickly tying and placing the condom in the bedside bin and then curled his body around hers, touching her everywhere he could. Letting the sheer joy of the moment live for as long as possible as he felt her breathing even out, grow shallow as she began drifting off to sleep.**

**"I'm in love with you," he whispered quietly, cradling her close to his chest.**

**Her hand touched his cheek and she spoke. "I love you, too. Both of you."**

**XxXxXxX**

**This was it for him. And if he hadn't known before, he did now. He was never letting her go and as he looked down on her, quietly sleeping naked in his arms, he knew he was going to marry her. Not tomorrow, not next week, but she was it. His _one_.**

**That mythical one that he'd never dreamed was real, but that every chick-flick he'd suffered through during his life proclaimed to be there and just waiting for you. He'd always scoffed and put it down to Hollywood selling a bill of goods. But she was, she was here and proving it to him every day in every way. He grimaced at just how girly that sounded and made a mental note to keep those thoughts to himself – for now anyway.**

**He looked back at her again as his own eyes began to drift shut.**

**He didn't so much mind being the girl in the relationship if it got him her.**

**Yeah, he'd take that. Every day for the rest of his life.**

**Because the movies had it right, after all.**

**TBC**


End file.
